Film-thickness effects on the optical and electrical properties of Cu-GeO2 thin cermet films

The effect of film thickness on the optical and electrical properties of Cu-30 wt % GeO₂-70 wt % thin cermet films prepared by electron-beam deposition at about 10^–3 Pa and at a substrate temperature of 300 K is reported. The ultraviolet, visible and direct current (d.c.) conductivity results are analysed with the aim of determining the optical band gap,E _opt, the width of the band tails,E _e, and the d.c. thermal activation energy,E _a. It was found that the optical energy gap increases with increasing thickness and that the absorption was due to indirect transitions ink-space. The general feature of the absorption edge remains similar for both unannealed and annealed films, but annealing has the effect of decreasingE _opt. The d.c. conductivity results show thatE _a decreases with increasing thickness. From a knowledge ofE _opt andE _a, a probable model of the electronic band structure in Cu-GeO₂ thin films has been suggested.