Abstract:
The structures and the electronic states in electrodeposited semiconductor Cu?O thin films have been investigated for each annealing temperature (TA) by X-ray diffraction (XD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) near the Cu K edge using synchrotron radiation. The thin films prepared as grown and annealed at TA ? 175 �C, 200 �C ? TA ? 300 �C, TA = 400 �C are characterized mainly by the pure Cu2O-type structure, the pseudo-Cu2O-type having a superlattice structure, and two phases of Cu2O-type and CuO-type structures, respectively, while the film annealed at TA = 500 �C is single-phase CuO-type. The XAS spectra suggest that there is a structural phase transition occurring at about 400 �C, which induces a modulation of the local structure around Cu ions observed in the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and the occupational electronic band states of Cu-4p localized just above the Fermi level, taken from X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES). The open-circuit voltage suggests that the photosensitivity of the Cu?O thin films strongly depends on the annealing treatment and shows a crossover from an n-type to a p-type semiconductor. (? 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
