Morphology, optical and electrical properties of Cu-Ni nanoparticles in a-C:H prepared by co-deposition of RF-sputtering and RF-PECVD

► Co-deposition of RF-sputtering and RF-PECVD was reported for growing Cu-Ni nanoparticles in a-C:H from acetylene and Cu and Ni targets at room temperature with any harmful chemical reaction. ► The variation of LSPR peak and conductivity of samples were correlated and assigned to surface electron delocalization of Cu NPs. ► The surface morphology of the samples was described by a two dimensional Gaussian self-affine fractal, except the sample with 10 nm thickness of Ni over layer, which is in the nonmetal-metal transition region.