An All-Solid-State Electrochromic Device Based on WO3–Nb2O5 Composite Films Prepared by Fast-Alternating Bipolar-Pulsed Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

In this study, WO3–Nb2O5 electrochromic films and an ITO/WO3–Nb2O5/Nb2O5/NiVOx/ITO all-solid-state electrochromic device were deposited using fast-alternating bipolar-pulsed magnetron sputtering using tungsten and niobium targets. The influence of different sputtering powers from the niobium target on the refractive index, extinction coefficient, optical modulation, coloration efficiency, reversibility, and durability of the WO3–Nb2O5 films is discussed. The aim of this work is to find the suitable Nb proportion to increase durability and less negative effect in the electrochromic performance of Nb2O5-doped WO3 films. The lifetime of the WO3–Nb2O5 films is 4 times longer than pure WO3 films when the sputtering power of the Nb target is higher than 250 W. The results show that WO3–Nb2O5 composite films used for an all-solid-state electrochromic device can sustain over 3 × 104 repeated coloring and bleaching cycles while the transmission modulations can be kept above 20%. The coloring and bleaching response times are 7.0 and 0.7 s, respectively.