The effect of growth time and oxygen flow on the properties of electrochromic WO3 thin layers grown by LPCVD 

¹Center of Materials Technology and Photonics, School of Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, 710 04 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

²Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Crete, 710 04 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

³NCSR “Demokritos”, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, P.O. Box 60228, 15310 Agia Paraskevi, Athens, Greece

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2018, 9 (8), pp 578-584

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2018.2013

Publication Date (Web): Jun 14, 2018

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: koudoumas@staff.teicrete.gr

Abstract

Results are presented regarding the development of functional electrochromic WO₃ thin layers, using a simple, one step and fast process without the need of template or seed layers or even post-annealing, factors favoring large scale industrial deposition. In particular, low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) was employed to develop gama-monoclinic WO₃ crystalline phase of granular agglomerations structure, with a thickness from 60 nm up to 160 nm onto FTO coated glass substrates. The effect of growth time and oxygen flow on the structural, morphological and electrochemical properties of WO₃ thin layers was investigated. It was found that a deposition time of 15min and an O₂ flow rate through the reactor of 0.1 l/min result in a more stable behavior during the interchange charge circles. 

Keywords

Gama-monoclinic WO₃, electrochemical response.