Role of Ar/O2 mixture on structural, compositional and optical properties of thin copper oxide films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering

In this study, the effect of oxygen content on athin copper oxide layer deposited on BK7 and steel substratesby DC magnetron sputtering were investigated.Argon as working gas with impurity of 99.9% and variousoxygen ratios were used to sputter a pure Cu cathode targetin a cylindrical geometry. The produced samples wereanalyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersiveX-ray (EDX), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and spectrophotometrytechniques. The films thickness was measuredby profilometer facility. The results show that byincreasing oxygen content in the working gas the sputteringrate reduces. Moreover, the type of oxide phase (Cu(2)O orCuO) in the synthesized layer and consequently its opticalproperties dramatically depend on Ar/O(2) ratio in theworking gas.