ANNEALING TEMPERATURE ENHANCED THE CONVERSION EFFICIENCY OF (ITO/ZNO/CUO) HETEROJUNCTION
Copper oxide (CuO) thin film was deposited on glass substrates using pulsed laser deposition by fundamental wavelength (1064 nm) Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with 900 mJ peak energy at RT and annealed at 200 and 300 ᴼC respectively. The Structural and optical properties of the prepared copper oxide thin films were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy UV-visible spectroscopy. The copper oxide films exhibited Cu2O phase of cubic structure converted gradually to CuO in a monoclinic crystal structure when annealed to 300 ᴼC. Direct energy gap 2.25 eV value at RT sample, While the annealed samples have 1.8 and 1.6 eV indirect transitions. The I-V Characteristics of the ZnO/CuO heterojunction were studied under illumination revealed that the fabricate samples exhibit photovoltaic properties. The best efficiency appeared at 200 ᴼC annealing temperature
Keywords: Copper (II) Oxide, XRD, UV-Visible