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Improved Cu2O/AZO Heterojunction by Inserting a Thin ZnO Interlayer Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Journal of Electronic Materials volume 48, pages 4381–4388 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Cu2O/ZnO:Al (AZO) and Cu2O/ZnO/AZO heterojunctions have been deposited on glass substrates by a unique three-step pulsed laser deposition process. The structural, optical, and electrical properties of the oxide films were investigated before their implementation in the final device. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the materials were highly crystallized along the c-axis. All films were highly transparent in the visible region with enhanced electrical properties. Atomic force and scanning electron microscopies showed that the insertion of a ZnO layer between the Cu2O and AZO films in the heterojunction enhanced the average grain size and surface roughness. The heterojunctions exhibited remarkable diode behavior and good rectifying character with low leakage current under reverse bias. The presence of the ZnO interlayer film significantly reduced the parasitic and leakage currents across the barrier, improved the quality of the heterostructure, made the energy band between AZO and Cu2O layers smoother, and eliminated the possibility of interface recombination, leading to much longer electron lifetime.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Prof. M. Santamaria (Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo) for the use of the XRD system and to CNR-IMM Catania (University) Unit for the use of the SEM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre in Industrial Technologies CRTI, Algiers, Algeria

    A. Boughelout

  2. Department of Materials and Compounds, Faculty of Physics, USTHB, BP 32, 16111, Algiers, Algeria

    A. Boughelout & M. Kechouane

  3. Thin Films Laboratory (TFL), Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze (ed. 9), 90128, Palermo, Italy

    R. Macaluso & I. Crupi

  4. Laboratorio di Materiali per la Conservazione e il Restauro, Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze (ed. 6), 90128, Palermo, Italy

    B. Megna

  5. Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    M. S. Aida

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  1. A. Boughelout
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  2. R. Macaluso
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Correspondence to R. Macaluso.

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Boughelout, A., Macaluso, R., Crupi, I. et al. Improved Cu2O/AZO Heterojunction by Inserting a Thin ZnO Interlayer Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition. J. Electron. Mater. 48, 4381–4388 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-019-07195-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-019-07195-6

Keywords

  • Heterojunctions
  • ZnO
  • Cu2O
  • AZO
  • pulsed laser deposition
  • solar cells