Ion beam processing of oriented CuO films deposited on (1 0 0) YSZ by laser ablation

A systematic study of Ar ion implantation in cupric oxide films has been reported. Oriented CuO films were deposited by pulsed excimer laser ablation technique on (1 0 0) YSZ substrates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra showed the highly oriented nature of the deposited CuO films. The films were subjected to ion bombardment for studies of damage formation. Implantations were carried out using 100 keV Ar+ over a dose range between 5x1012 and 5x1015 ions/cm2. The as-deposited and ion beam processed samples were characterized by XRD technique and resistance versus temperature (R-T) measurements. The activation energies for electrical conduction were found from ln [R] versus 1/T curves. Defects play an important role in the conduction mechanism in the implanted samples. The conductivity of the film increases, and the corresponding activation energy decreases with respect to the dose value