%0 Journal Article 
%A Márquez Navarro, Emilio José
%A Blanco Ollero, Eduardo
%A Manuel Delgado, José Manuel
%A Ballester, M.
%A García-Gurrea, M.
%A Rodríguez-Tapiador, M.I.
%A Fernández, S.M.
%A Willomitzer, Florian
%A Katsaggelos, Aggelos K.
%T Mid-Infrared (MIR) Complex Refractive Index Spectra of Polycrystalline Copper-Nitride Films by IR-VASE Ellipsometry and Their FIB-SEM Porosity
%D 2024
%@ 2079-6412
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32622
%X Copper-nitride (Cu (Formula presented.) N) semiconductor material is attracting much attention as a potential, next-generation thin-film solar light absorber in solar cells. In this communication, polycrystalline covalent Cu (Formula presented.) N thin films were prepared using reactive-RF-magnetron-sputtering deposition, at room temperature, onto glass and silicon substrates. The very-broadband optical properties of the Cu (Formula presented.) N thin film layers were studied by UV-MIR (0.2–40 (Formula presented.) m) ellipsometry and optical transmission, to be able to achieve the goal of a low-cost absorber material to replace the conventional silicon. The reactive-RF-sputtered Cu (Formula presented.) N films were also investigated by focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy and both FTIR and Raman spectroscopies. The less dense layer was found to have a value of the static refractive index of 2.304, and the denser film had a value of 2.496. The iso-absorption gap, (Formula presented.), varied between approximately 1.3 and 1.8 eV and could be considered suitable as a solar light absorber.
%K optical properties
%K thin films
%K electron microscopy
%K spectroscopic ellipsometry
%K solar energy
%~ Universidad de Cádiz