Aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition of copper sulfide nanostructured thin film from newly synthesized single-source precursor

The copper(II) complex of N-[ethyl(butyl)carbamothioyl]- 3,5-dinitrobenzamide (1) has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that complex 2 decomposes in 2 steps to form copper sulfide. The complex was used as a single-source precursor for the deposition of copper sulfide thin film by aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition at 350 °C. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern of thin film of the complex showed the deposition of monoclinic roxbyite Cu_7S_4 and orthorhombic anilite Cu_7S_4 phases at 350 °C with spherical crystallites. The degree of film surface roughness was determined by atomic force microscopy. The scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis results showed the uniform distribution of copper sulfide in the film, which makes it a useful semiconducting material on a structured surface.