Spectroscopic ellipsometry modelling of Cr+ implanted copper oxide thin films

In this paper, we present modelling of spectroscopic ellipsometry data. The measured samples are thin films of copper oxides modified with the ion implantation method. The samples were prepared using reactive magnetron sputtering. Thin films of CuO and Cu4O3 were deposited and subjected to Cr ion implantation with an energy of 15 keV and a dose of 5 × 1016 ions/cm2. The decrease in crystallinity of the thin film as a result of the implantation was inspected with X-ray diffraction measurements. The implantation of Cr+ ions was simulated using the Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter software by Ziegler and Biersack. Ion beam energy of 15 keV was simulated to estimate the distribution of Cr ions in the copper oxides thin films. Optical parameters, such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, and absorption coefficient of the thin films, were investigated with spectroscopic ellipsometry. Multilayered models based on Tauc–Lorentz oscillators were developed for both oxides. Analysis of the optical properties showed that the ion implantation with Cr decreased the absorption of copper oxides thin films and the modelling proved that the material properties of top layers changed the most.