Properties of (NiO)1-x(ZnO)x thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis

•Thin (NiO)1-x(ZnO)x films deposited by spray pyrolysis•Thin (NiO)1-x(ZnO)x films have surface roughness.•Film properties can be controlled by ratio x.•Dark conductivity varies by three decades.

The main goal of the present work is the study of (NiO)1-x(ZnO)x metal oxide thin films to determine their applicability in optoelectronic devices. For this purpose, well adherent films with x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1, were deposited by spray pyrolysis technique on glass substrates heated at 400 °C. Nickel chloride hexahydrate and zinc acetate dihydrate were used as precursors. Structural, electrical, optical and morphological properties of films have been studied. The obtained results indicate the formation of NiO and ZnO phases mixed in defined proportions for intermediate compositions and the lattice constant of NiO increases with the nominal fraction x of Zn. The dark electrical conductivity at room temperature varied between 10− 9 and 10− 5 Ω cm− 1. A transmittance in the visible region situated between 50% and 80% was observed. The band-gap changes of the samples are situated between 3.21 eV and 3.74 eV.