Title: Chemical bath deposition of thin films of CuO nanorods and their characterisation

Authors: Nillohit Mukherjee, Anup Mondal, Utpal Madhu

Addresses: Department of Chemistry, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, P.O: Botanic Garden, Howrah-711 103, West Bengal, India. ' Department of Chemistry, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, P.O: Botanic Garden, Howrah-711 103, West Bengal, India. ' School of Materials Science and Engineering, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, P.O: Botanic Garden, Howrah-711 103, West Bengal, India

Abstract: CuO is a p-type semiconducting material with room temperature band gap energy nearly at 1.4 eV for the bulk systems. Here, we present a simple one-pot chemical bath deposition of CuO thin films with nanorod-like crystallites and excellent uniformity of the surface, from an alkaline solution of Cu²⁺ ions. Structural characterisations of the films were carried out by studying XRD patterns and FESEM, EDX and AFM analyses. Broad FWHM of the XRD peaks indicates the formation of nanocrystals. Nanorod-like grain growth along c-axis is evident from the FESEM image. Average diameter of the nanorods was found to be ∼40 nm. Optical absorption spectrum (UV-VIS) of the films showed a blue shift in the band gap energy to ~2.0 eV, due to quantum confinement effect showed by the nanocrystals. Various electrical measurements were also carried out.

Keywords: chemical deposition; thin films; semiconducting materials; nanorods; structural characterisations; electrical properties; nanomaterials; nanotechnology; transparent conducting oxide.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2010.029919

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2010 Vol.5 No.1/2, pp.16 - 24

Published online: 03 Dec 2009 *

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