Effect of Deposition Temperature on the Properties of Copper-Zinc Sulphide Thin Films using Mixed Copper and Zinc Dithiocarbamate Precursors

Abstract

The influence of deposition temperatures on the structural, elemental, optical and electrical properties was investigated. The Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to measure the elemental and morphological properties of the films. The RBS confirms that the stoichiometry was controlled by the deposition temperatures with a thickness that ranged between 51.00 to 63.00 nm. SEM data of the deposited films show different morphologies with several grains that increased with deposition temperature. Optical characterization shows that the films exhibited a direct transition with an energy gap that varies from 1.79 to 2.10 eV. For copper-zinc sulphides (CZS) film deposited at 470 ᴼC, the maximum electrical conductivity was 7.38 × 10-2 (Ω.cm)-1and minimum electrical resistivity was 1.35 × 101 (Ω.cm). The results confirm the possibility of using copper and zinc dithiocarbamate precursors in depositing high-quality CZS thin films with comparable properties.

Keywords

• Deposition temperature
• Electrical properties
• Optical properties
• Precursor
• Thin-films

References

1. [1] Omran Alkhayatt, A.H., Habieb, A.A., Al-Noaman, A.H.A., Hameed, A.A., “Structure, surface morphology and optical properties of CuxZn1-xS/Au NPs layer for photodetector application”, Journal of Physics: IOP Conference Series, 1234: 12012, (2019).
2. [2] Kitagawa, N., Ito, S., Nguyen, D., Nishino, H., “Copper zinc sulfur compound solar cells fabrication by spray pyrolysis deposition for solar cells”, Natural Resources, 4: 142–145, (2013).
3. [3] Emegha, J.O., Damisa, J., Efe, F.O., Olofinjana, B., Eleruja, M.A., Azi, S.O., “Preparation and characterization of metal organic chemical vapour deposited copper zinc sulphide thin films using single solid source precursors”, European Journal of Materials Science and Engineering, 4(1): 11–22, (2019).
4. [4] Ukhurebor, K.E., Azi, S.O., Aigbe, U.O., Onyancha, R.B., Emegha, J.O., “Analysing the uncertainties between reanalysis meteorological data and ground measured meteorological data”, Measurement, 165: 108110, (2020).
5. [5] Hassan, I.A., “Solar Energy Conversion by Photoelectrochemical Processes”, PhD Thesis, University of Bath, UK, 1–35, (2011).
6. [6] Hossain, M.S., Kabir, H., Rahman, M.M., Hasan, K., Bashir M.S., Rahman, M., Gafur, M.A., Islam, S., Amri, A., Jiang, Z-T., Altarawneh, M., Dlugogorski, B.Z., “Understanding the shrinkage of optical absorption edges of nanostructured Cd-Zn sulphide films for photothermal applications”, Applied Surface Science, 392: 854-862, (2017).
7. [7] Damisa, J., Olofinjana, B., Ebomwonyi, O., Bakare, F., Azi, S.O., “Morphological and optical study of thin films of CuAlS2 deposited by metal organic chemical vapour deposition technique”, Materials Research Express, 4: 86412, (2017).
8. [8] Uhuegbu, C.C., Babatunde, E.B., “Spectral analysis of copper zinc sulphide ternary thin film grown by solution growth technique”, American Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 1(3): 397–400, (2010).

9. [9] Rosado-Mendoza, M., Oliva, A.I., “Chemical bath deposition of zinc sulfide films doped with copper”, Materials and Manufacturing Processes”, 31(11): 1454–1460, (2016).
10. [10] Ortiz-Ramon, D.E., Gonzalez, L.A., Ramirez-Bon, R., “P-type transparent Cu doped ZnS thin films by the chemical bath deposition method”, Materials Letters, 124: 267–270, (2014).
11. [11] Shujah, T., Butt, A., Ikram, M., Shabbir, S., Ali, S., “Effect of deposition temperature variation on thin films synthesis via AACVD”, Digest Journal of Nanomaterials and Biostructures, 11(3): 891 –898, (2016).
12. [12] Olofinjana, B., Egharavbe, G., Taleatu, B., Akinwunmi, O., Ajayi, E.O., “MOCVD of molybdenum sulphide thin film via single solid source precursor bis-(morpholinodithioato-s,s’)-mo”, Journal of Modern Physics, 2: 341–349, (2011).
13. [13] Eleruja, M.A., Adedeji, A.V., Olofinjana, B., Akinwunmi, O.O., Ojo, I.A.O., Egharavbe, G.O., Osasona, O., Ajayi, E.O.B., “Preparation and characterization of mercury cadmium sulphide thin films”, Journal of Non-oxide Glasses, 2(4): 175–182, (2010).
14. [14] Osuntola, K.O., “Preparation and characterization of metal organic chemical vapour deposited (MOCVD) thin films of metal sulphides”, MSc Thesis, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, 1–10, (1990).
15. [15] Jose, E., Santhosh Kumar, M.C., “Room temperature deposition of highly crystalline Cu-Zn-S thin films for solar cell applications using SILAR method”, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 712: 649–656, (2017).
16. [16] Nagamani, K., Reddy, M.V., Lingappa, Y., Ramakrishna Reddy, K., Miles, T R.W., “Physical properties of ZnxCd1-xS nanocrystalline layers synthesized by solution growth method”, International Journal of Optoelectronic Engineering, 2: 1–4, (2012).
17. [17] Gardew, D.D., Abza, A.T., Gashaw, H.F., “Synthesis and characterization of copper zinc sulfide (Cu_x Zn_ (1-x) S) ternary thin film by using acidic chemical bath deposition method”, International Journal of Thin Film Science and Technology, 10(1): 4, (2021).
18. [18] Sreedhar, M., Neelakanta, R.I., Bera, P., Shyju, T.S., Anandan, C., “Studies of Cu‐doped ZnS thin films prepared by sputtering technique”, Surface and Interface Analysis, 49(4): 284–290, (2017).
19. [19] Mukherjee, A., Mitra, P., “Characterization of Sn doped ZnS thin films synthesized by CBD”, Materials Research, 20: 430–435, (2017).
20. [20] Kassim, A., Nagalingam, S., Min, H.S., Karrim, N., “XRD and AFM studies of ZnS thin films produced by electrodeposition method”, Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 3(4): 243–249, (2010). [21] Helmentine, A.M., “Heat of formation table for common compound, ThoughtCo”. https://www.thoughtco.com/common-compound-heat-of-formation-table-609253. Access date: 02.01.2021.
21. [22] Aigbe, U.O., Onyancha, R.B., Ukhurebor, K.E., Obodo, K.O., “Removal of fluoride ions using polypyrrole magnetic nanocomposite influenced by rotating magnetic field”, RSC Advances, 10(1): 595–609, (2020).
22. [23] Efe, F.O., Olofinjana, B., Fasakin, O., Eleruja, M.A., Ajayi, E.O.B., “Composition, structural, morphological, optical and electrical property evolution in mocvd Cu-Zn-S thin films prepared at different temperature using a single solid source precursor”, Journal of Electronic Materials, 48(12): 1–14, (2019).
23. [24] Olofinjana, B., Adebisi, A.C., Efe, F.O., Fasakin, O., Oyedotun, K.O., Eleruja, M.A., Ajayi, E.O.B., Manyala, N., “Single solid source precursor route to the synthesis of MOCVD Cu-Cd-S thin films”, Materials Research Express, 6(10): 106442, (2019).
24. [25] Emegha, J.O., Olofinjana, B., Eleruja, M.A., Efe, F.O., Azi, S.O., “A detailed study on preparation and some physical properties of CuxZn1-xS thin films deposited by metal organic chemical vapour deposition technique”, In: Goel, A.K., (ed.), Recent Developments in Engineering Research, 8, Book Publisher International, West Bangal, India, 44–53, (2020).
25. [26] Olofinjana, B., Egharevba, G.O., Taleatu, B.A., Akinwunmi, O.O., Ajayi, E.O.B., “Effect of deposition temperature on some properties of MOCVD molybdenum sulphate thin films”, Materials Science & Engineering B, 4(4): 78–85, (2014).
26. [27] Govindasamy, G., Murugasen, P., Sagadevan, S., “Optical and electrical properties of chemical bath deposited cobalt sulphide thin films”, Journal of Materials Research, 20(1): 62–67, (2017).
27. [28] Emegha, J.O., Damisa, J., Elete, D.E., Arijaje, T.E., Akinpelu, A., Ogundile, P.O., Onumejor, C.A., “Growth and characterization of copper cadmium sulphide thin film”, Journal of Physics: IOP Conference Series, 1734: 12045, (2021).
28. [29] Chowdhury, F., Firoz Hasan, S.M., Sahabul Alam, M., “Morphological and optical properties of vacuum evaporated ZnO thin films”, Turkish Journal of Physics, 36: 1–7, (2012).
29. [30] Ezenwa, I.A., Okoli, N.L., “Characterization of chemically synthesized copper zinc sulphide (CuZnS2) thin films”, European Physical Journal Applied Physics, 1(1):1-9, (2015).
30. [31] Uhuegbu, C.C., Babatunde, E.B., Oluwafemi, C.O., “The study of copper zinc sulphide (CuZnS2) thin films”, Turkish Journal of Physics, 32: 39–47, (2008).
31. [32] Ompong, D., “Investigating the Optical Properties of Cd1-xZnxS Thin Films Deposited by the Dip Technique”, MSc Thesis, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, 1–30, (2010).
32. [33] Jassim, S.A., Rashid Ali Zumaila, A., Abdella Ali Al Waly, G., “Influence of substrate temperature on the structure, optical and electrical properties of CdS thin films deposited by thermal evaporation”, Results in Physics, 3: 173–178, (2013).
33. [34] Al-Taa’y, W.A., Oboudi, S.F., Yousif, E., Nabi, M.A., Yusop, R.M., Derawi, D., “Fabrication and characterization of nickel chloride doped PMMA films”, Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, 913260: 1–5, (2015).
34. [35] Demir, R., Gode, F., Guneri, E., Emen, F.M., “The effect of nanoparticle sizes on the structural, optical and electrical properties of indium sulfide thin films consisting of In2S3 and In6S7 phases”, Journal of Molecular Structure, 1227: 129565, (2021).
35. [36] Arslan, M., Habib, A., Zakri, M., Mehmood, A., Husnain, G., “Elemental, structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline Zn1-xCuxSe films deposited by close spaced sublimation technique”, Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices, 2: 79–85, (2017).
36. [37] Alwan, T.J., Jabbar, M.A., “Structural and optical properties of CuAlS2 thin films prepared via chemical bath deposition”, Turkish Journal of Physics, 34: 107–116, (2010).
37. [38] Emegha, J.O., Okafor, C.M., Ukhurebor, K.E., “Optical properties of copper-zinc sulphide network from mixed single solid source precursors of copper and zinc dithiocarbamates”, Walailak Journal of Science and Technology, 18(9): 1–11, (2021).
38. [39] Mohamed, S.H., “Photocatalytic, optical and electrical properties of copper-doped zinc sulfide thin films”, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 43(3): 35406, (2010).
39. [40] Innocenti, M., Becucci, L., Benecista, I., Carretti, E., Cinotti, S., Dei, L., Di Benedetto, F., Lavacchi, A., Marinelli, F., Salvietti, E., Vizza, F., Foresti, M.L., “Electrochemical growth of Cu-Zn sulphides”, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 710: 17–21, (2013).
40. [41] Emegha, J.O., Olofinjana, B., Ukhurebor, K.E., Adegbite, J.T., Eleruja, M.A., “Electrical properties of semiconducting copper zinc sulphide thin films”, Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology, 22(1): 1–9, (2022).
41. [42] Gode, F., Guneri, E., Emen, F.M., Emir Kafadar, V., Unlu, S., “Synthesis, structural, optical, electrical and thermoluminescence properties of chemically deposited PbS thin films”, Journal of Luminescence, 147: 41–48, (2014).