Abstract: In this paper, nickel oxide films are deposited by rapid electron-beam evaporating NiO powder pellet in the presence of a selected oxygen pressure. The deposited films show superior electrochromic properties without activation process, transmittance variation of 23.4%~92.0% at 550nm can be achieved at the second cycle of cyclic voltammetry between -0.6 and +0.8V. In the initial dozens of cycles, the transmittance of the colored state is lowered gradually, but the transmittance of the bleached state retains the same as the original state. The anodic and cathodic current increase, while the cathodic current peak shifts to lower potentials with the cycling. The maximum transmittance variation reachs 20.5%~77.4%in the photopic vision spectra and 27.2%~69.1% in the solar spectra when the cycling reachs stable. Switching times for coloration and bleaching are 15s and 7s respectively.

Key words: electron-beam evaporation, nickel oxide film, electrochromism