Fabrication and Characterization of Semiconductor CuCl Nanocrystals

CuCl nanocrystals were elaborated in a NaCl ionic matrix by doping the latter with copper powder during growth. Optical absorption measurements revealed nanocrystals with a mean size of order 32 Å. This is consolidated by the Raman scattering measurements which showed nanodomains of similar size. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate a good crystallinity of the matrix and confirm the presence of CuCl nanocrystals within our samples. The annealing effect at 300˚C showed an increase in CuCl nanocrystal size with annealing time and demonstrated clearly the existence of a compound containing copper within our samples.