In this paper, copper oxide (CuOx) thin films with amorphous phase were prepared on glass substrates by reactive dc magnetron sputtering. The influence of the flow rate of O2 on the structural, optical and electrical properties of the as-deposited films was systematically studied. XRD revealed that the as-deposited films remained amorphous in the whole range of adjusted oxygen flow rate. Surface morphology and nanoparticle size of the films were observed by AFM. Electrical resistivity and Hall effect measurements were performed on the films with van der Pauw configuration. The positive sign of the Hall coefficient confirmed the p-type conductivity in all studied films. From temperature-dependent electrical conductivity of the films prepared at R(O2) of 1.5 sccm, it was show that three types of behavior can be expected, nearest-neighbor hopping at high temperature range (200-300 K), the Mott variable range hopping at low temperature (110-190 K) and Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping at very low temperature (65-100 K). Some important parameters corresponding to Mott-VRH and ES-VRH like density of localized states near the Fermi level, localization length, degree of disorder, hopping distance and hopping energy were determined. These parameters would be helpful for optimizing the performance of photovoltaic applications.
Disorder and variable-range hopping conductivity in Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films prepared by flash evaporation and post-thermal treatment
