Morphological study of PLD grown CuO films on SrTiO3, sapphire, quartz and MgO substrates

► Cupric oxide films were prepared on various substrates by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique to investigate their effects on surface morphology. ► A decrease in the average surface roughness was recorded as the substrate temperature decreased. ► Deposition at low pressures produced greater surface roughness, while higher oxygen pressure under an adjusted target-substrate distance produced smaller crystallites and a smoother film surface. ► Reducing the laser energy density led to lower densities and smaller micro-liquid droplets formed on the surfaces. ► The discussed results could be useful for better understanding the effect of PLD parameters control on CuO film morphology. It could also serve as a reference for the fabrication of CuO-based devices, in which the surface quality of the CuO films is highly important.