Effect of deposition atmosphere on the structure and properties of Mg doped CuCrO2 thin films prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering

•Pure-phase Mg doped CuCrO2 thin films were prepared.•Moderate oxygen could improve the c-axis oriented growth of CuCrO2.•The lowest resistivity of 0.4 Ω cm with 60% transmittance was obtained.

CuCr0.97Mg0.03O2 thin films were prepared by direct current magnetron sputtering under various percentage of oxygen flow rate (PO) followed by post-annealed in N2 atmosphere. The microstructures, optical and electrical properties of the films were investigated. The film deposited in pure Ar atmosphere showed pure CuCrO2 phase, while the films deposited in O2 and Ar mixture atmosphere showed CuO and CuCr2O4 mixture phase. After post-annealed at 800 °C, the films deposited in O2 and Ar mixture atmosphere turned into c-axis oriented single-phase CuCrO2 which showed much better transparency and electrical conductivity than the film deposited in pure Ar. The film deposited in PO = 40% with thickness of 350 nm showed the lowest resistivity of 0.4 Ω cm and transmittance over 60% in visible light region.