Thin Solid Films, Vol.664, 19-26, 2018
Growth and characterization of ZnSxS1-x thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis
In this work, zinc sulphoselenide ZnSxSe1-x; (0.0 <= x <= 1.0) thin films were grown on glass substrates using a computerized chemical spray pyrolysis. The mechanism of growth and the structural, morphological, compositional, optical and electrical properties were studied. An X-ray diffraction study confirmed that the polycrystalline ZnSxSe1-x thin films had a cubic zinc blende structure with a preferential <111> orientation. The shift in the peak < 111 > direction towards higher 20 values with increasing sulfur concentration confirmed the formation of a solid solution. The crystallite size was observed to be in the range 18-28 nm. Using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, the formation of nearly stoichiometric ZnSxSe1-x thin films was confirmed. The optical band gap increased from 2.84 eV to 3.57 eV when the composition of the ZnSxSe1-x was changed. The thin films were found to be semiconducting in nature. The observed tunable optical and electrical properties of theZnS(x)Se(1-x) thin films suggest that they can be used for a wide range of optoelectronic applications.
Keywords:Thin films;Spray pyrolysis;Growth mechanism;X-ray diffraction;Semiconducting materials;Optical properties;Electrical properties