LAUSR

Abstract Molybdenum oxynitride (MoNxOy) thin films were grown by reactive sputtering on Si (100) substrates at room temperature. The partial pressure of Ar was fixed at 90 %, and the remaining 10 % was adjusted with mixtures N2:O2 (varying from pure N2 to pure O2). The electrical properties of the films depend on the chemical composition. Thin films grown using mixtures up to 2 % O2 have γ-Mo2N phase and display superconductivity. The superconducting critical temperature Tc reduces from ∼ 6.8 K to below 3.0 K as the oxygen increases. On the other hand, the films are mostly amorphous for gas mixtures above 2 % O2. The electrical conductivity shows a semiconductor-like behavior well described by variable-range hopping conduction. The analysis of the optical properties reveals that the samples do not have a defined semiconductor bandgap, indicating that the high structural disorder produces electron excitation for a wide range of energies.