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Growth and characterization of Cu2O and CuO thin films

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Abstract

Crystalline Cu2O and CuO thin films were synthesized by pulsed laser deposition on fused silica substrates at three O2 partial pressures (0.1 Pa, 1 Pa and 10 Pa) and the effects of O2 pressure on the phase formation, structural, optical, surface morphology, wettability and electrical properties of films were characterized by grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV–visible, FTIR, Raman and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, water contact angle measurements and two-probe electrical studies. GIXRD and Raman studies revealed that the film prepared at 0.1 Pa is a mixed phase of Cu and Cu2O, while the films prepared at higher O2 pressure of 1 Pa and 10 Pa are single-phase CuO. The optical bandgap of the films decreases from 3.00 eV to 2.82 eV with the conversion of Cu2O into CuO. PL studies show strong luminescence peaks at 486 nm (blue), 503 nm (green) and 613 nm (red). The surface roughness of the films decreases with an increase in O2 pressure from 0.1 Pa to 10 Pa. All films are hydrophilic and the hydrophilicity decreases with an increase in O2 pressure. The surface electrical resistivities of films deposited at 0.1 Pa, 1 Pa and 10 Pa O2 pressure are 1.6 × 102, 6.4 × 104 and 1.0 × 104 Ω cm, respectively. It is found that copper oxide phase formation and its properties can be significantly modified by varying O2 pressure during PLD.

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Acknowledgements

Atul Khanna acknowledges Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India, for a research grant (03(1399)/17/EMR-II). Jatinder Kaur thanks CSIR for research fellowship.

Funding

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India is acknowledged for a research grant (03(1399)/17/EMR-II).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sensors and Glass Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, 143005, India

    Jatinder Kaur & Atul Khanna

  2. Nano Science Laboratory, Institute Instrumentation Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, 247667, India

    Rinku Kumar & Ramesh Chandra

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  1. Jatinder Kaur
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  2. Atul Khanna
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Contributions

AK conceptualized the research problem and planned the experiments. JK, RK and RC prepared thin film samples by pulsed laser deposition. JK characterized the samples by electrical resistivity, optical absorption, Raman and photoluminescence, X-ray diffraction, AFM and FESEM studies. The wettability studies were carried out by RK and RC. The data analysis was done by JK and AK. The manuscript writing and editing was done by JK and AK.

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Correspondence to Atul Khanna.

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Kaur, J., Khanna, A., Kumar, R. et al. Growth and characterization of Cu2O and CuO thin films. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 16154–16166 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08506-0

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