Correlation between electrical properties and cation distribution in [(Ni_xMn_{1- x})_0.84Cu_0.16]₃O₄ thin films prepared by metal-organic decomposition for microbolometer applications

[(Ni_xMn_{1- x})_0.84Cu_0.16]₃O₄ (0.20 ≤ x ≤ 0.40) thin films have been prepared using the metal-organic decomposition method for microbolometer applications. Spinel thin films with a thickness of approximately 100 nm were obtained from the [(Ni_xMn_{1- x})_0.84Cu_0.16]₃O₄ films annealed at the low temperature of 380 °C for 5 h, which enables their direct integration onto substrates having complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) read-out circuitry. To obtain negative-temperature-coefficient films with reasonable performance through low enough temperature anneal process, Ni content has been systematically varied, and the film microstructure has been found to depend on the relative amount of Ni and Mn. A single phase of cubic spinel structure has been confirmed in the prepared films. The resistivity (ρ) of the annealed films decreases with increasing Mn⁴⁺/Mn³⁺ value due to the hopping mechanism between Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ cations in octahedral sites of spinel structure. Although the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the annealed films has been decreased slightly with the increase of Ni content, good enough properties of the film (ρ = 61.3 Ω•cm, TCR = −2.950%/K in x = 0.30 film) has been obtained even with the annealing at rather low temperature of 380 °C, thus enabling the direct integration onto substrates having read-out circuitry. The results obtained in this work are promising for applications to CMOS integrated microbolometer devices.