Raman spectroscopy of copper oxide films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

Raman spectroscopy has been used to study the influence of partial oxygen pressure during deposition and isothermal treatment on the chemical composition of copper oxide films deposited by reactive dc magnetron sputtering of copper target in a reactive gaseous medium. Three series of films deposited at various partial oxygen pressures (from 0.06 to 0.16 mTorr) possessed different chemical compositions. The subsequent thermal treatment of all samples was performed for 30 min in air at a constant temperature in a 300–500$^\circ$C interval. An increase in the annealing temperature led to chemical changes in the films. After isothermal treatment at 450$^\circ$C, the films in all series acquired stoichiometric CuO composition.