A Study on the Transition of Copper Oxide by the Incorporation of Nitrogen

Abstract

In the present study, the effects of nitrogen incorporation on the transition of a p-type copper oxide semiconductor are investigated. The properties of sputtered copper oxide and nitrogen-incorporated copper oxide are evaluated and compared at various nitrogen gas flow rates. The results indicate that the addition of nitrogen results in an increased optical bandgap, accompanied by significantly reduced tail states compared to pristine copper oxide. In addition, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveal that the incorporation of nitrogen stimulates the transition from copper (II) oxide to copper (I) oxide.

Evolution of Structural and Optical Properties of Cuprous Oxide Particles for Visible Light Absorption

“…The first peak is due to metal-oxygen bonds (Cu-O) centered at 530.15 eV, and the second is due to oxygen-related defects, such as oxygen vacancies (Vo), centered at 531.55 eV. In general, the metal-oxygen peaks and the oxygen-related defect peaks in metal oxides are near 530.6 eV and 531.9 eV, respectively [56], similar to those found in this work.…”

“…However, the presence of the CuO phase (Cu(II) species) is confirmed by the detection of the satellites [17]. In Figure 5(a), it is observed that the intensity of the satellite 9 Journal of Nanomaterials decreases with the increase of the glucose content, suggesting a decrease in CuO content [56].…”

“…It can be seen from Figure 5(a) that all the spectra consist of two main [33,57]. However, the samples show satellite peaks around 940-945 eV and 960-966 eV [17,56], which are from CuO signals [56]. Thus, the spectra indicate that the samples are dominated by Cu +1 (Cu(I) species) with the presence of Cu(II) species since the shoulders at 932 eV and 955 eV assigned to Cu +2 are not observed.…”

“…The Shirley-type background, mainly used for metal analysis, was also determined [47] with the line shape LF (Lorenztian-Gaussian). Finally, the spectra fitting was performed using the Marquardt least-squares method [55], and the peak positions were calibrated using the C 1 s peak, which standard binding energy is about 284.5 eV [56].…”

A Comparison of Optical Properties of CuO and Cu<sub>2</sub>O Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications

“…In addition, other characteristics of this method are the high deposition rate, dense layer formation, good surface flatness, and low substrate temperature [7]. to CuO [9]. This is beneficial because it becomes easier to induce electron flow, which means better efficiency.…”