Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Language

eng

Publication Date

2011

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

Source Publication

2011 11th IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology

Source ISSN

1944-9399

Abstract

In this work we characterized thermally grown cuprous oxide thin films using tunneling atomic force microscopy (TUNA) and optical reflection measurements. Significant hysteresis was observed in the I-V curves measured at the nanometer contact under various bias voltages. Histogram analysis of the barrier voltage distribution indicated the barrier height is related to electrochemical potentials for oxidation/ reduction of copper atoms. Changes in chemical state of copper atoms were identified by optical reflectance measurements in the UV-VIS-NIR wavelength region. The peak shift observed in the optical reflection measurements from the short to the long wavelength is attributed to the quantum size confinement effects of the nanometer-scale cuprous particles formed in the films. The grain size, including surface roughness, was measured by topographic AFM imaging. The fluctuations in the I-V measurements are likely due to changes of electrochemical properties of cuprous ions in the film, including the grain size distribution. The asymmetric distribution in the barrier height may indicate that a different probability for injecting an electron in and withdrawing an electron from the films.

Comments

Accepted version. 2011 11th IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology Portland Marriott, Accession Number: 12538884 (August 15-18, 2011): 1470-1473. DOI. © 2011 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Used with permission.

Ronald A. Coutu was affiliated with the Air Force Institute of Technology at the time of publication.

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