CHARACTERIZATIONS OF NITROGEN DOPED CUPRIC OXIDE THIN FILMS DEPOSITED ON DIFFERENT SUBSTRATES FOR SOLAR CELL APPLICATIONS

In this work, structural, optical and electrical properties of nitrogen doped (N-doped) cupric oxide (CuO) thin films deposited on < 100 > orientated n-type silicon, glass and polyethylene terephthalate substrates using reactive radio frequency sputtering system were investigated. X-ray diffraction results revealed that all films exhibited monoclinic CuO(-111) and have only slightly different structural properties for various substrates. Field effect scanning electron microscopy shown N-doped CuO on Si and glass are denser than on PET substrates and all have nanotriangle-like structure morphologies. The N-doped CuO thin films have an indirect band gap of around 1.30 eV. The resistively, carrier concentration and hall mobility of the N-doped CuO thin film on glass were 1.05 k Omega.cm, 6.70 x 10(14) cm(-3) and 8.86 cm(2)/V-s respectively. Furthermore, palladium formed ohmic contact characteristics for N-doped CuO on glass and PET but exhibited schottky contact characteristics for N-doped CuO on Si.