Physical Properties of ZnS Thin Films Prepared by Low-temperature Sulfidation

In the article, Zn thin films were deposited on the glass substrates at room temperature by magnetron sputtering from a zinc target. And ZnS thin films were prepared by annealing Zn thin films in sulfur vapor and Ar gas at 200 and 400 ℃. The microstructure defects, crystallizations, surface morphology and optical properties of the samples were analyzed by PAT(positron annihilation technique), XRD(X-ray diffraction), SEM(scanning electron microscopy) and UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The resultant ZnS thin films exhibited a high optical transmittance of about 80% in the visible region. With the increase of sulfidation time, the band-gap value was increased from 3.55 to 3.57 eV, and the S/Zn atomic ratio was enhanced from 0.54 to 0.89, implying an obvious improvement of ZnS film quality. This demonstrated that the excess-sulfur problem in the ZnS films was well solved compared with those samples prepared by sulfidation in the vacuum-sealed quartz-glass ampoules. Besides, the structural defects of the thin films before and after sulfidation were investigated by positron annihilation Doppler broadening measurements. It was found that the S parameter of the samples after sulfidaton was greater than that before sulfidation, implying the higher structural defect concentration for the former.