Preparation of Large Area Single-Crystal Cuprous Oxide

Abstract

Large area single crystals of Cu₂O were grown by the process of high temperature annealing. Cu₂O was prepared in finely polycrystalline form by the complete oxidation of Cu plate in air at temperatures of 1020°C to 1050°C. Subsequent annealing of the polycrystalline plates at higher temperatures allowed secondary recrystallization to occur. Single‐crystal grains having surface areas larger than 1 in.² were grown consistently on Cu₂O plates having thicknesses of 0.010 in. to 0.060 in. In some cases, entire polycrystalline plates were transformed into single crystals, and as a result, individual single crystals having surface areas of 3 in.² and larger were obtained. The annealing temperature and the annealing time were found to depend markedly on the plate thickness. Thick plates required lower temperatures and longer annealing times than the thinner plates. X‐ray analysis of the large grains verified that they were single crystals without excess strain, and indicated preferred orientation, with the (211) and (311) planes predominating. Resistance profile measurements at room temperature on quenched samples showed that a variation in resistance exists through the thickness of the plate.