The present work accentuates the effect of UV laser irradiation on the
conductivity of nickel oxide (NiO) thin films, deposited at various temperatures
by radio-frequency reactive sputtering of Ni in oxygen containing atmosphere.
The effect of UV irradiation on zinc oxide – nickel oxide
heterostructures, obtained by sputtering, was examined as well. It was found
that the resistivity of NiO changes from 12 Ω-cm to 0.62
Ω-cm, and the majority carrier concentration from
3.95x1017 holes/cm3 to 4.22x1020
electrons/cm3. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the
ZnO/NiO heterostructure shows an improved p-n diode behavior with the forward
bias current increasing for the laser-irradiated ZnO/NiO compared to the
as-deposited stack. The observed improvement in diode-like behavior suggests
that laser irradiation can be an important technique to controllably change the
structural, electrical and optical properties of metal oxide thin films.