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The reduction of copper oxide thin films with hydrogen plasma generated by an atmospheric-pressure glow discharge

The reduction of copper oxide thin films by a hydrogen plasma generated by an atmospheric-pressure glow (APG) discharge was investigated. The copper oxide films were prepared by heating the sputtered Cu films to 150 deg C in the air (heat-formed copper oxide) or by sputtering (sputtered copper oxide...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. D, Applied physics Applied physics, 1996-10, Vol.29 (10), p.2539-2544
Main Authors: Sawada, Yasushi, Tamaru, Hiroshi, Kogoma, Masuhiro, Kawase, Motoaki, Hashimoto, Kenji
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The reduction of copper oxide thin films by a hydrogen plasma generated by an atmospheric-pressure glow (APG) discharge was investigated. The copper oxide films were prepared by heating the sputtered Cu films to 150 deg C in the air (heat-formed copper oxide) or by sputtering (sputtered copper oxide). Both films were composed of Cu sub 2 O. The reduction occurs first on the surface, then the Cu/Cu sub 2 O interface gradually shifts from the surface into the inner region and finally the whole layer is reduced to metallic Cu. This process is approximately explained by assuming that the diffusion of the atomic hydrogen in the reduced layer is the rate-determining step. By transmission electron microscopic (TEM) observation, a layer of 3-5 nm thickness composed of many Cu sub 2 O microcrystals was observed along the surface of the heat-formed copper oxide. After the APG hydogen plasma treatment, the crystal Cu sub 2 O layer disappeared and the crystalline lattice was re-arranged to form large crystal Cu grains.
ISSN:0022-3727
1361-6463
DOI:10.1088/0022-3727/29/10/003