Effects of oxygen ion energy on the growth of CuO films by molecular beam epitaxy using mass-separated low-energy O⁺ beams

Abstract

We have studied the effects of the kinetic energy of mass-separated O+ beams on the growth of CuO thin films deposited on unheated MgO(OOl) and at 510 °C, in energy ranging from 10 to 200 eV by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, reflection high-energy electron diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The films deposited at 510 °C show a full width at the half maximum (FWHM) of 0.06° for the rocking curve through the (111) peak, regardless of the kinetic energy of oxygen ions. CuO has been epitaxially grown on MgO(OOl) without heating it in a vacuum of 4 X 10~7 Pa. The x-ray diffraction intensity of the CuO(lll) increases with an increase in the kinetic energy of O+, and its FWHM approaches that of the CuO film grown at 510 °C. The surface morphology is improved for the films deposited on unheated substrates.

Nitrogen Doping Effect in Cu4O3 Thin Films Fabricated by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering

“…Quite a few potential applications of Cu 4 O 3 have already reported for photovoltaics, lithium‐storage batteries, and catalysis . So far, Cu 2 O and CuO thin films have been prepared by various methods such as magnetron sputtering, electrodeposition, thermal evaporation, sol–gel, solution growth, electron beam evaporation, chemical‐pulsed laser deposition, vapor deposition, and molecular beam epitaxy . Compared with the widely investigated Cu 2 O or CuO, the researches on Cu 4 O 3 are limited, and even the optical properties including the band gap energy and the transition type are controversial.…”

“…However, it is necessary to obtain enough results on the correlation between the deposition parameters and film properties for better understanding of the optimal process conditions of Cu 4 O 3 thin films. Earlier, the mixture ratio of (Ar–O 2 ) sputtering gases have been studied for the deposition of Cu 4 O 3 thin films mostly at room temperature . In our previous study, we have successfully synthesized all the three copper oxides (Cu 2 O, Cu 4 O 3 , CuO) by reactive RF magnetron sputtering by varying the O 2 flow rate as well as adjusting the substrate position .…”

Role of Oxygen Pressure on the Surface Properties of Polycrystalline Cu2O Films Deposited By Thermal Evaporator

“…The CuO or Cu2O films are being deposited through various routes like DC and RF sputtering, sol-gel, electrodeposition, chemical vapor deposition, pulsed laser deposition, thermal evaporation and plasma evaporation have been used to deposit Cu2O films on various substrates [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . In the present work, thermal evaporator is used to deposit The polycrystalline cuprous oxide (P-Cu2O) films are deposited on Cu substrates for various (0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mbar) oxygen pressure (OP) by thermal evaporator while the other deposition parameters like the boat temperature (800 o C), source to substrate distance (2 cm) and the deposition time (5 min) remain constant.…”

Characterization of Cu2O and Cu2O–Ag2O thin films synthesized by plasma oxidation

“…Besides non-toxicity and low production cost of Cu 2 O films, the theoretical energy conversion efficiency of 20% make it possible to be used as an absorber layer in thin film heterojunction solar cells [2]. The Cu 2 O films can be prepared using various deposition techniques such as electro deposition [3], thermal spraying [4], chemical vapor deposition [5], thermal oxidation [6], molecular beam epitaxy [7], reactive sputtering [8], and atomic layered deposition [9]. Plasma oxidation is known to be a possible way to produce oxide in many areas, including semiconductor industries.…”