Sol–gel-derived percolative copper film

Cu–SiO2 films were prepared by the sol–gel method. Two-dimensional fractal copper films were formed after the films were thermally treated in reducing atmosphere. dc resistances of the films decrease 12 orders of magnitude as the content of copper increases from 70 to 80 mol%. During the resistance measurement under argon atmosphere, samples showed a sharp increase or decrease of resistance at a transition temperature which is ascribed to the oxidation of Cu into CuO. The oxidation was also observed in the in situ high temperature X-ray diffraction under vacuum condition. The evolution of the morphology of the films was studied by scanning electron microscopy. As the content of copper increases, the forms of copper particles change from discrete to aggregate then to interconnecting. The coverage coefficients of the copper range from 23 to 55% and the fractal dimensions range from 1.65 to 1.77. The percolation thresholds for the coverage coefficient and the fractal dimension are about 33% and 1.71, respectively, which corresponds to the sample containing 72.5 mol% of Cu.