Effect of Cobalt Doping on Nanostructured CuO Thin Films

The growth of cobalt-doped nanostructured CuO thin films using the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method is presented. It is found that Co doping considerably influences the structural (X-ray diffraction (XRD)), morphological (finite-element-scanning electron microscopy (FESEM)), and optical (ultraviolet/visible (UV/vis.) and Raman) properties of the films. XRD experiments evidence that the crystallite size of the films decreased with increasing Co doping. FESEM images reveal that the grain size of the nanostructures decreased with increasing doping concentration. By UV/vis. analysis, it is found that Co doping has a decreasing effect on band gap energy. The broadening and downshift of the Raman peaks are mainly attributed to the quantum confinement effect of CuO nanostructures.