The Inter-play of the Opto-Electrical Properties of Cuprite and Tenorite Semiconductors for Solar Cell Application

The electrical and optical properties of cuprous oxide (Cu 2O) thin films prepared by D.C. reactive magnetron sputtering technique have been systematically studied. The influence of the film deposition conditions on the opto-electrical properties has been investigated and has helped to solve the puzzles of difficulties associated with preparation of high quality Cu 2O films. This is because there is usually co-deposition of phases of Cu, Cu 2O and CuO during the preparation of Cu 2O films. From this study, the films deposited at low substrate temperature were found to be less crystalline as compared to those deposited at high substrate temperature. This was corroborated by the drop in the sheet resistivity from ~55.08？ cm to ~29.66？ cm and the band gap from ~2.36eV to ~1.63eV for films prepared at substrate temperatures of 23°C and 170°C respectively. Annealing was also found to improve the film crystallinity.