Growth, electrical and optical behaviour of nanocrystalline Ag₂Cu₂O₃ films produced by RF magnetron sputtering

Abstract

Thin films of Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 were formed on glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technique under different oxygen partial pressures in the range 5×10-3 -8×10 -2 Pa using mosaic target of Ag 70 Cu 30 . The influence of oxygen partial pressure on the core level binding energies, crystallographic structure, and electrical and optical properties of the deposited films was studied. The atomic ratio of copper to silver in the films was 0.302. The oxygen content was in correlation with the oxygen partial pressure maintained during the growth of the films. The films formed at oxygen partial pressures <2×10 -2 Pa was mixed phase of Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 and Ag. The films deposited at 2×10 -2 Pa were single phase of Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 . The crystallite size of the films formed at 2×10 -2 Pa was 12 nm, while those films annealed at 473 K was 16 nm. The nanocrystalline Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 films formed at oxygen partial pressure of 2×10 -2 Pa showed electrical resistivity of 8.2 Ωcm and optical band gap of 1.95 eV.