Influence of Bath pH values on the Structural and Optical Properties of Electrodeposited MgO Thin Films for Optoelectronic applications

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of bath pH values on the structural and optical properties of magnesium oxide (MgO) thin films synthesized using electrodeposition technique. The films were deposited on conductive fluorine tin oxide (FTO) substrates using magnesium nitrate hexahydrate as a precursor material. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the electrodeposited films were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The morphology and optical properties of the films were found to vary with bath pH values. The band gap decreased as the bath pH values increased. The deposited MgO films exhibited average transmittance of 80%, 50%, and 25% with thicknesses 400 nm, 480 nm, and 540 nm for bath pH values of 2.0, 5.0, and 9.0, respectively. The results obtained indicate that bath pH values play significant role in the formation of MgO films and can be used to tune the material into useful optoelectronic applications.