Abstract
Polycrystalline cupric oxide (CuO) thin films are deposited using an alkaline solution bath employing cathodic electrodeposition method. Thin films are electroplated at various bath temperatures onto conducting indium tin oxide coated glass substrates. The bath temperature effects on the structural, optical and morphological properties of copper oxide films are studied and reported. X-ray diffraction studies revealed mixed phases of monoclinic and cubic for films grown at lower bath temperatures and that the deposited films at temperatures optimized as 75°C exhibited cubic structure with preferential orientation along a (111) plane. Texture coefficient (T c) values are calculated for all diffraction lines and the films were highly textured (T c > 1). The surface morphology and surface roughness are estimated using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, respectively and a morphology made up of pyramid shaped grains is presented. Energy dispersive analysis by X-rays revealed that the near stoichiometric CuO thin films are obtained at optimized preparative parameters. The refractive index is calculated using the envelop method. Also, the optical constants of CuO thin films such as complex dielectric constant (ε) and extinction coefficient (k) are also evaluated and reported.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 6608-6613 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Thin Solid Films |
Volume | 520 |
Issue number | 21 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 31 Aug 2012 |
Keywords
- Cupric oxide
- Electrodeposition
- Indirect band gap
- Structural properties
- Surface morphology
- Thin film