Synthesis and characterization of cupric oxide thin films by sol-gel method

Cupric oxide (CuO) thin films were successfully grown on glass substrates by low cost sol-gel method. In this work, non-contact atomic force microscope (AFM) and current mode atomic force microscope (C-AFM) was used to physically characterize the CuO thin films. Two different samples using molar concentration of 1 mM and 5 mM were used. The surface morphology of CuO thin films were observed by a field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Meanwhile, the structural property of the films was measured by an X-ray diffractometer (XRD). From the results, XRD showed the formation of single-phase CuO films with monoclinic structures while FESEM morphological image found that the films with different molar concentration produced different shapes of morphological surface structure. In addition, it was noticed that when the molar concentration increased, the surface of the films become smoother and denser. The microstructures characterization revealed that the films were substantially affected by precursor concentration.