Color of Copper/Copper Oxide

Stochastic inhomogeneous oxidation is an inherent characteristic of copper (Cu), often hindering color tuning and bandgap engineering of oxides. Coherent control of the interface between metal and metal oxide remains unresolved. Coherent propagation of an oxidation front in single-crystal Cu thin film is demonstrated to achieve a full-color spectrum for Cu by precisely controlling its oxide-layer thickness. Grain-boundary-free and atomically flat films prepared by atomic-sputtering epitaxy allow tailoring of the oxide layer with an abrupt interface via heat treatment with a suppressed temperature gradient. Color tuning of nearly full-color red/green/blue indices is realized by precise control of the oxide-layer thickness; the samples cover approximate to 50.4% of the standard red/green/blue color space. The color of copper/copper oxide is realized by the reconstruction of the quantitative yield color from the oxide pigment (complex dielectric functions of Cu2O) and light-layer interference (reflectance spectra obtained from the Fresnel equations) to produce structural color. Furthermore, laser-oxide lithography is demonstrated with micrometer-scale linewidth and depth through local phase transformation to oxides embedded in the metal, providing spacing necessary for semiconducting transport and optoelectronics functionality.

Automated summary

Stochastic inhomogeneous oxidation is a challenge for color tuning and bandgap engineering of copper oxides. Coherent control of the metal-metal oxide interface remains unresolved. Laser-oxide lithography demonstrates micrometer-scale linewidth and depth for semiconducting transport and optoelectronics functionality by controlling the oxide-layer thickness.