Structural and Optical Properties of Nanostructured Cu2O Thin Films for Optoelectronic Devices

Abstract In the present work nanostructured cuprous oxide thin films were deposited on glass substrates by DC reactive magnetron sputtering by varying substrate temperature from 100 to 400 °C. X-ray diffraction patterns of Cu 2 O films deposited at different substrate temperatures show (1 1 1) orientation. The surface topography of the films was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) is carried out to determine the compositional analysis of thin films. The optical transmittance of Cu 2 O films increased with the increase of substrate temperature from 100 to 400 °C. Optical study is performed to calculate refractive index (n), absorption coefficient (α), extinction coefficient (k), optical band gap (E g ) and urbach energy (E U ) using the transmission spectra in the wavelength range of 300 - 800 nm.