Annealing and light effect on optical and electrical properties of ZnS thin films grown with the SILAR method

Zinc sulphide (ZnS) thin films were grown on glass substrates by the Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) technique at room temperature and ambient pressure. Surface morphologies of grown films were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The crystal structure and crystal size of the thin films were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) method and found that the films exhibit polycrystalline characterization. The optical absorption measurements were done as a function of the temperature at 10-320 K temperature range. Using absorption measurements, the band gap energies were calculated at 10 and 320 K, as 3.83 and 3.72 eV, respectively. The annealing temperature effect on optical band gap and the light effect on the electrical properties of ZnS thin films were investigated and it was found that the current increased with increasing light intensity. The annealed films were found have more resistance than the as-grown film. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.