Structural and Electrical Characterizations of Electrodeposited p-Type Semiconductor Cu[sub 2]O Films

The p-type semiconductor cuprous oxide film has been of considerable interest as a component of solar cells and photodiodes due to its bandgap energy of and high optical absorption coefficient. We prepared films on a conductive substrate by electrodeposition at from an aqueous solution containing copper sulfate and lactic acid. The structural and electrical characterizations of the resulting films were examined by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption measurements, and the Hall effect measurement, respectively. The resistivity varied from , while the carrier density was from and the mobility from , depending on the preparation conditions, i.e. , solution pH and deposition potential. The carrier density was sensitive to the atomic ratio of Cu to O in the films and the mobility to the grain size.