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Preparation of Cu–Fe–O thin films via post oxidation of iron/copper bilayers: structural, optical and electrical properties

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Abstract

Cu–Fe–O thin films were prepared via vacuum thermal evaporation of Fe and Cu after what the obtained bilayer Fe\Cu was annealed in free air at different temperatures during 2 h. The obtained Cu–Fe–O thin films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), electrical and spectrophotometric measurements. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed the presence of Fe2O3, CuO and CuFeO2 phases. Cu–Fe–O thin films exhibit rough surfaces by analyzing the film morphologies by scanning electron microscopy. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) technique was used to evaluate Cu–Fe–O thin films stoichiometry. The optical properties reveal that the absorption coefficient of Cu–Fe–O thin films is larger than 105 cm−1 and two optical direct band gaps in the range 1.65–2.2 eV were found. The Wemple and DiDomenico model was used to study the dispersion of the refractive index in terms of the single oscillator model. So, optical parameters such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, oscillator energy and dispersion energy were calculated. In addition and by using the model of Spitzer and Fan, the electrical free carrier susceptibility and the carrier concentration on the effective mass ratio were evaluated. All the samples present relatively high electrical resistivity.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude for the financial support received from Université de Tunis, Tunisia. They are grateful to LERMS-UTBM (FRANCE) for SEM–EDS analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Tunis El Manar, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Laboratoire de Photovoltaïque et Matériaux Semiconducteurs, BP 37 Le Belvédère 1002, Tunis, Tunisie

    H. Ben Jbara, D. Abdelkader, F. Chaffar Akkari & M. Kanzari

  2. Université de Tunis, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, 13 Ave Taha Hussein Montfleury 1008, Tunis, Tunisie

    H. Ben Jbara

  3. Université de Tunis, Institut Préparatoire aux Etudes d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Montfleury 1089, Tunis, Tunisie

    M. Kanzari

  4. Institut FEMTO-ST, UMR 6174 CNRS, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UTBM, Site de Montbéliard, F-90010 Belfort Cedex, France

    M. Arab Pour Yazdi & A. Billard

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  1. H. Ben Jbara
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  2. D. Abdelkader
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  3. F. Chaffar Akkari
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  4. M. Kanzari
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  5. M. Arab Pour Yazdi
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  6. A. Billard
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Correspondence to H. Ben Jbara.

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Ben Jbara, H., Abdelkader, D., Chaffar Akkari, F. et al. Preparation of Cu–Fe–O thin films via post oxidation of iron/copper bilayers: structural, optical and electrical properties. Opt Quant Electron 51, 99 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-019-1807-y

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