Electrical and structural properties of Ni-doped Cu2O films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract The electrical and structural properties of Ni-doped Cu 2 O (Cu 2 O:Ni) films prepared by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) from CuO:Ni targets were studied. The mass fraction of Cu 2 O in the films decreased with increasing Ni content. The remaining fraction was assigned to CuO by XRD measurements. The Cu 2 O fraction of the films became 100% with an increase in the deposition temperature of both Ni-doped and undoped films. It has been suggested that the reduction process from CuO to Cu 2 O was depressed by Ni doping. The Hall measurements showed the carrier transport properties of Cu 2 O:Ni films to be those of a p-type semiconductor. The carriers were considered to be generated by Cu-vacancies in Cu 2 O. It was found that the doped Ni atoms enter the interstitial sites in Ni-doped Cu 2 O film and produce the scattering center of the neutral impurity, resulting in low mobility.