Structural studies of copper sulfide films: effect of ambient atmosphere

Abstract

We examined the structural properties of copper sulfide films as a function of the sulfurization time of 70-nm-thick Cu films. Copper sulfide films with various phases such as mixed metallic Cu-chalcocite, chalcocite, roxbyite, and covellite phases were formed with increasing sulfurization time. To evaluate the structural stability of various films, all the films were exposed to the ambient atmosphere for the same amount of time. Although the phase structure and stoichiometry of the films were maintained at a greater depth, the near-surface region of the films was oxidized and covered with overlayers of oxide, hydroxide, and/or sulfate species due to the exposure and reaction with the ambient atmosphere. The oxygen uptake and its reactivity with the copper sulfide film surfaces were enhanced with increasing sulfur content of the films. In addition, the type of divalent state of copper formed on the film surfaces depended on the phase structure, composition, and stoichiometry of the films.

Gas–solid reaction for in situ deposition of Cu3SbS4 on a mesoporous TiO2 film

“…The above binding energies are well consistent with reported values for Cu + . 35 The antimony presents doublet at the binding energies at 539.7 eV (3d 3/2 ) and 530.4 eV (3d 5/2 ), which are in good agreement with those of Sb 5+ , and no peaks are observed at 538.7 and 529.2 eV for Sb 3+ . 20,36 The peaks at 162.9 and 161.8 eV represent the S 2p 1/2 and 2p 3/2 , respectively, which are consistent with the chemical state of sulfur (S 2À ) in the Cu 3 SbS 4 .…”

Synthesis of CuxS Thin Films with Tunable Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances

“…For each doublet, the ratio of the curve area of the disulfide and the sulfide was noted to be ∼1.9, which is almost equal to 2:1, with spin‐orbital splitting of 1.2 eV between S 2p 3/2 and S 2p 1/2 , as expected for pure covellite CuS . In addition, a third doublet appeared at ∼163 eV, which could either be assigned to complexes with elemental sulfur or to Cu‐deficient nonstoichiometric sulfides, because its width and intensity were slightly correlated with the asymmetry of the main doublets . Therefore, it was intended as a “fitting effective” doublet as reported by Xie et al .…”

Incorporation of High-Mobility and Room-Temperature-Deposited CuxS as a Hole Transport Layer for Efficient and Stable Organo-Lead Halide Perovskite Solar Cells

“…Figure (a) shows the survey of XPS scan, in which we find the signals of elements Cu and S. As shown in Figure (b), peak fitting of the Cu 2p scan indicated two well‐defined peaks, Cu 2p 3/2 and Cu 2p 1/2 , which were located at binding energies of 932.4 and 952.1 eV, respectively. These peaks were attributed to the monovalent state of copper in anilite Cu 1.75 S . Note that there exists a satellite peak at a binding energy of 946 eV.…”