Effect of adsorption time on structural, optical and electronic properties of SILAR deposited CuO thin films

Abstract

Deposition of CuO thin films onto glass substrates by SILAR technique changing the adsorption time is reported. Adsorption time dependent variation on structural, optical and electric properties of the films has been analyzed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the films have confirmed the polycrystalline monoclinic structure with (002) preferred orientation. Intensity of the XRD peaks is found to increase with the increase of adsorption time. Crystallite size, lattice parameters, defect density and texture coefficient of the film have been calculated using the XRD data. Surface morphology studies of the films done by scanning electron microscopy showed uniform and continuous film with spherical particles. Optical absorption studies of the films have revealed that the optical band gap of the thin films is decreased with the increase of adsorption time and it lies between 2.12-1.91 eV. Hall Effect measurements of the films have shown that the obtained material has p-type conductivity and resistivity values are found to decrease with adsorption time. I-V property of the fabricated p-CuO/n-Si diode has been measured by illuminating the device with a halogen lamp of intensity 200 W and it has shown a maximum open circuit voltage (V-oc) 0.05 V and short-circuit current (I-sc) 0.25 x 10(-6) A.