Study of deposition temperature effect on spray-deposited copper oxide thin films and its schottky diodes

Due to its ideal optical and electrical properties for upcoming electronic devices, Cu₂O is commonly regarded as one of the most promising p-type oxides. Copper (Cu) rapidly deposits mixed phases of its oxides. This article describes the spray deposition method for developing copper oxide thin films at temperatures between 200 and 400 °C on glass substrates coated with ITO. Through optimization of the deposition temperature, Cu₂O-rich phases were attained in the copper oxide films, typically around 300 °C. A Cu-rich phase was seen at 200 °C deposition temperature, and this phase progressively diminished at higher temperatures. At 400 °C, the CuO phase began to enrich the films in the meantime. Analysis using an x-ray diffraction (XRD) verified the existence of Cu₂O phases (111), (200), and (220). The crystallites were discovered to be between 17.49 and 20.32 nm in size for the films deposited between 300 and 400 °C. The x-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) identifies Cu and oxygen as the main components. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the deposition temperature significantly affects the copper’s oxidation state. The Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) investigation showed that as the temperature increased, surface roughness decreased. As the deposition temperature increased, the energy band gap of the deposited films widened from 1.67 to 2.85 eV, as observed by the UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer. Moreover, the fabrication of Schottky diodes with Cu metal contacts is also reported. These fabricated diodes showed a proportionate rise in barrier height with increasing deposition temperature.