LAUSR

The present work describes the effect of deposition potentials on structural, morphological, optical, electrical and photoconductivity responses of cuprous oxide (Cu2O) thin films deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrate by employing electrodeposition technique. X-ray diffraction patterns reveal that the deposited films have a cubic structure grown along the preferential (111) growth orientation and crystallinity of the film deposited at − 0.4 V is improved compared to the films deposited at − 0.2, − 0.3 and − 0.5 V. Scanning electron microscopy displays that surface morphology of Cu2O film has a well-defined three-sided pyramid-shaped grains which are uniformly distributed over the surface of the substrates and are significantly changed as a function of deposition potential. Raman and photoluminescence spectra manifest that the film deposited at − 0.4 V has a good crystal quality with higher acceptor concentration compared to other films. UV–visible analysis illustrates that the absorption of Cu2O thin film deposited at − 0.4 V is notably higher compared to other films and the band gap of Cu2O thin films decreases from 2.1 to 2.04 eV with an increase in deposition potential from − 0.2 to − 0.5 V. The frequency–temperature dependence of impedance analysis shows that the film deposited at − 0.4 V has a high conductivity. I–V measurements elucidate that the film deposited at − 0.4 V exhibits a good photoconductivity response compared to films deposited in other deposition potentials.