Abstract. Cu₂O thin films were chemically deposited on single-crystal p-Si substrates to form Cu₂O/p-Si heterojunctions. The structure of the Cu₂O films was analysed by x-ray diffraction spectroscopy and UV–Vis–NIR transmittance spectra. In order to investigate the dark current transport mechanism in Cu₂O/p-Si heterojunctions the current–voltage characteristics were measured in the temperature range 120–320 K and capacitance–voltage characteristics at a high frequency of ~1 MHz at room temperature. The I–V–T characteristics revealed that the forward current was determined by trap-assisted multi-step tunnelling. The activation energy determined from the saturation current and the junction built-in potential determined from the capacitance–voltage characteristics were about 0.18 eV and 1.10 V at room temperature, respectively.

Print publication: Issue 22 (21 November 2009)
Received 1 July 2009, in final form 2 October 2009
Published 6 November 2009