Preparation and characterization of(Bi,Sb,Co,Cr,Mn)-doped ZnO ceramic films grown by the RF magnetron sputtering

(Bi,Sb,Co,Cr,Mn)-doped ZnO ceramic targets with 50mm in diameter and 3mm in depth were prepared by the traditional solid-state sintering process.ZnO ceramic films were deposited on Si(111) substrate by RF magnetron sputtering using(Bi,Sb,Co,Cr,Mn)-doped ZnO ceramic target.The effects of both sputtering power and annealing temperature on the microstructure and surface morphology of ZnO films were investigated.The results show that with the increase of the sputtering power,the growth rate of the ZnO ceramic films tends to increase and the grain size first decreases and then increases.With the increase of the annealing temperature,the c-axis(002) orientation is enhanced,and the grain size tends to increase.It is found that when the sputtering power is 350W and the annealing temperature is 850℃,the ZnO ceramic films are the same phase composition as the ZnO ceramic target composed of ZnO main phase,Bi2O3 phase,Sb2O3 phase and Zn2.33Sb0.67O4 spinel phase.It is indicated that the ZnO ceramic films have had the microstructure that is the basic of varistor.