Pristine thin films of copper oxide have been prepared to glass substrates by a simple technique, namely, SILAR method with slight modification which employs successive dipping in 1M NaOH, kept at 70 degrees copper complex solution at room temperature successively for 20 s, followed by rinsing in triple distilled water for 10 seconds. The structure of the films were studied using XRD and the films are found to be polycrystalline with mixed phases before annealing and tend to become monoclinic after having annealed. The morphology details of thin films were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and the morphology is formed by needle like grains. The optical properties of the films were studied using ultra violet- visible measurements within the energy ranges 1.45 to 2.3 eV. The band gap, was estimated using Tauc’s method. The annealed sample exhibited a band gap of 1.7 eV. The films are suitable for optical applications.
