Magnesium-doped cuprous oxide (Mg:Cu2O) thin films as a transparent p-type semiconductor

The lack of a successful p-type transparent semiconductor delays the future implementation of transparent electron- ics. In the group semiconducting compounds, cuprous oxide (Cu2O) presents promising electrical and manufacturing features that establish it as a suitable candidate for p-type transparent semiconductors. However, high absorbance in the visible range reduces its application practical devices.
In this work, we achieved the incorporation of magnesium in cuprous oxide grown by aerosol-assisted metal-organic chemical vapour deposition. The fabricated doped thin films reached up to 17% of magnesium, resulting in morphology changes. Electrical resistivity was reduced down to values as low as 6.6 Vcm, due to the increase of charge-carrier density. The optical transparency was enhanced compared to intrinsic cuprous oxide.