Formation and characterization of CuO coatings deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

Abstract In this work, CuO coatings were deposited on 304 L stainless steel substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. During the process, the substrate temperature was varied in the range from 100 °C to 400 °C. The crystallographic structure of the samples thus prepared was characterized by X-ray diffraction, and the results are discussed with respect to the technological conditions applied. It was found that the phase composition of the deposited CuO coatings is in the form of a monoclinic crystal structure. Also, the growth of the coatings was accompanied by a change in the orientation of the crystallites from (022) to (110) and a decrease in the concentration of imperfections.