Electrical screening of ternary NiO–Mn2O3–Co3O4 composition spreads

Abstract The compositional optimization of infrared-transparent conducting oxides was performed using high throughput screening of combinatorial libraries. Complete ternary composition spreads of NiO–Mn 2 O 3 –Co 3 O 4 alloys were deposited onto conducting Nb-doped SrTiO 3 substrates using the pulsed laser deposition technique. Resistance–temperature relations of each composition in the spread were determined using a custom-designed scanning probe. The binary NiCo 2 O 4 oxide showed the lowest electrical resistivity of about 0.1 Ω cm but unacceptably large resistance–temperature dependence (3.5%/°C). Electrically conducting ternary alloys along the line Mn 0.45 Ni 0.63 Co 1.92 O 4 –Mn 0.60 Ni 0.72 Co 1.68 O 4 –Mn 0.69 Ni 0.81 Co 1.50 O 4 exhibited much lower temperature sensitivity (of about 1.5%/°C) as well as electrical resistance comparable to that of NiCo 2 O 4 . From this screening we propose new compounds for the thin-film ITCO sensors.