The effect of annealing treatment on the structural and optical properties of nanostructured CuxO films obtained by 3D printing

• Published in: Materials science in semiconductor processing 2023-07, Vol.161, p.107472, Article 107472
• Main Authors: Yevdokymenko, Vladyslav Yu, Dobrozhan, O., Pshenychnyi, R., Opanasyuk, A., Gnatenko, Yu, Bukivskii, A., Bukivskij, P., Gamernyk, R., Кlymov, O., Muñoz-Sanjosé, V., Ibañez-Romero, P., Gacevic, Z.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3D printing; Chemical analysis; CuxO films; Optical characteristics; Structure; Substructure; Thermal annealing
• ISSN: 1369-8001; 1873-4081
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2023.107472

This work studies the effect of post-growth annealing on the structural and optical properties of copper oxide films. Thin films were obtained by 3D printing on glass substrates using ink based on a suspension of CuO nanoparticles. To optimize their structural characteristics and optical quality, the samples were subjected to thermal annealing for 30 min in an argon environment at different temperatures from 250 °C to 500 °C. The obtained samples were studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-Ray, Raman, optical and photoelectric spectroscopy. Based on the obtained results, the main structural and substructural characteristics of the films were established, such as lattice parameters, unit cell volume, texture, sizes of coherent scattering regions, and the level of microdeformation, as well as their dependence on the annealing temperature. In addition, the nature of optical absorption, band gap energies for various types of electronic transitions, and the optical quality of the studied nanostructured copper oxide films were determined. It was shown that CuO films annealed at 350 °C have the best crystalline and optical quality. It was established that at an annealing temperature above 400 °C, a phase transition from the tenorite phase to the cuprite phase is observed. At the same time, a change in the films' substructural characteristics is already observed at Ta = 400 °C. Optimal thermal annealing conditions of CuxO films for effective control of their phase composition have been established. •Production of CuxO films using nanoparticles and 3D printing.•Production of CuO nanoparticles by polyol synthesis (chemical method).•The effect of post-annealing in an argon at temperatures of Ta = (250–500) °C.•The transformation of the monoclinic CuO phase into the cubic Cu2O phase.•The band gap values were determined by the absorption coefficient first derivative method.