Photoluminescence and optical absorption studies of the effects of heat treatment on cuprous oxide

The defects responsible for the short-wave (720 nm) and medium-wave (820 nm) luminescence in cuprous oxide can be created by annealing the crystal at a temperature of 1050 °C under low oxygen pressures. The annihilation of these defects has been observed from the photoluminescence and optical absorption measurements after the crystal has been subjected to a second annealing in the temperature range of about 750 °C under a reducing atmosphere. From the photoluminescence measurements, the density of these defects is found to decrease exponentially as a function of annealing time, as manifested by the reduction in the luminescent intensity. The rate of reduction in intensity is also found to increase with annealing temperature.Because the defects responsible for the luminescence are ascribed to various forms of oxygen vacancies, we believe the decrease in luminescence is due to a reduction in the oxygen vacancies resulting from the formation of copper precipitates in the crystal. The short-wave and medium-wave emissions, which are ascribed to different types of oxygen vacancies, are found to have different activation energies of diffusion.