Effect of Aluminum Doping on Structural Properties of CuO Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Spray Pyrolysis (CSP) Technique

In this paper CuO thin films were prepared using chemical spray pyrolysis technique (CSP) with different dopant concentration of Al (0, 3, 5 and 7)% at substrate temperature of (400 oC), and thickness of about (400±10) nm .The structural properties of (CuO: Al) thin films were studied using X-ray diffraction technique. The investigation through the above technique, appeared the structure of CuO which was of crystalline monoclinic and preferred orientation along (111) plane. Also the structural studies showed the decrease of average grain size with increase of (Al) dopant concentration were in the range of (12.57-11.69 nm). The structural parameters including dislocation density (δ), and number of crystal per unite area (No) were also calculated. The atomic force microscopes (AFM) results showed that the root mean square (RMS) and surface roughness increases with increase of (Al) dopant.