Zinc oxide thin films have been developed through thermal oxidation of Zinc thin films grown by high impulse power magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). The influence of various sputtering power on thin film structural, morphological, photocatalytic, and antimicrobial properties was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that the crystalline phase of ZnO thin films consists of a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Increasing the sputtering power will lead to intrinsic stress on thin films that promote whisker formation. In this study, whiskers were successfully developed on the thin films without precursors/catalysts and not thermally treated over the Zn melting point. This finding showed that the film phase structure and morphology are significantly affected by sputtering power. It was found that ZnO thin films exhibit high photocatalytic performance under UV irradiation (89.91%) of methylene blue after 300 min of irradiation. The antimicrobial activity on ZnO thin films showed significant inhibition activity (p < 0.05) against E. coli, S. aureus, and C. albicans. However, the whisker formation on ZnO thin films is not accessible to enhance photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity. This study demonstrates that the HiPIMS method through the thermal oxidation process can promote a good performance of ZnO thin films as photocatalyst and antimicrobial agents.

Ni-Cr-Si-Al-Ta resistive thin films were prepared on glass and Al₂O₃substrates by DC magnetron cosputtering from targets of Ni_0.35-Cr_0.25-Si_0.2-Al_0.2casting alloy and Ta metal. Electrical properties and microstructures of Ni-Cr-Si-Al-Ta films under different sputtering powers and annealing temperatures were investigated. The phase evolution, microstructure, and composition of Ni-Cr-Si-Al-Ta films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). When the annealing temperature was set to 300°C, the Ni-Cr-Si-Al-Ta films with an amorphous structure were observed. When the annealing temperature was at 500°C, the Ni-Cr-Si-Al-Ta films crystallized into Al_0.9Ni_4.22, Cr₂Ta, and Ta₅Si₃phases. The Ni-Cr-Si-Al-Ta films deposited at 100 W and annealed at 300°C which exhibited the higher resistivity 2215 μΩ-cm with −10 ppm/°C of temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR).