STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES OF SPRAYED COPPER-ZINC OXIDE-FILMS

Mixed thin film oxides of different composition of copper and zinc wer e prepared by the spray pyrolysis technique. They were characterized b y X-ray diffraction, transmission, and reflectance spectroscopy and el ectrical resistivity measurements. Structural analysis showed that a s olid solution thin film of the composition (CuO)(1-x) (ZnO)(x )with x less than or equal to 0.1 is formed. At x greater than or equal to 0.1 5-0.20 hexagonal transparent crystallites of ZnO is formed between bla ck CuO grains. Covalent shortening is a possible reason for the decrea se of the volume of the unit cell of composition with x less than or e qual to 0.1. The changes of preferred orientation of the crystallites from (020) to (002) for films of composition ZnO greater than or equal to 0.15 affect greatly the film thickness. The variation of resistivi ty with increasing ZnO content in the film is attributed to the compen sation effect between p-type CuO and n-type ZnO. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sci ence S.A.