Modification of structure, morphology and physical properties of tin sulfide thin films by pulsed laser irradiation
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Modification of structure, morphology and physical properties of tin sulfide thin films by pulsed laser irradiation D. Avellaneda · B. Krishnan · T.K. Das Roy · G.A. Castillo · S. Shaji
Received: 29 September 2011 / Accepted: 3 August 2012 / Published online: 30 August 2012 © Springer-Verlag 2012
Abstract This paper presents modification of tin sulfide (SnS) thin films by pulsed laser irradiation. Tin sulfide films of 1 µm thickness were prepared using chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The chemical bath contained 5 ml acetone, 12 ml of triethanolamine, 8 ml of 1 M thioacetamide, 10 ml of 4 M ammonium hydroxide and 65 ml of distilled water. The chemical bath was kept at a constant temperature of 60 °C for 6 h which resulted in SnS films with 500 nm thickness. By double deposition, the final thickness of SnS thin films obtained was 1 µm. Laser processing was conducted to modify the structure, morphology and physical properties of the SnS thin films. The laser specifications were pulsed Nd:YAG laser with 532 nm wavelength, 300 mJ pulse energy and 10 ns pulse width. Properties of the laser-irradiated SnS thin films were compared with the asprepared SnS thin films. The changes in structure, morphology, optical and electrical properties of the laser-irradiated SnS thin films were described.
1 Introduction In recent years, many efforts have been made in the field of new materials for the photovoltaic applications with some particular characteristics of non-toxicity and abundance. Tin
D. Avellaneda · B. Krishnan · T.K. Das Roy · G.A. Castillo · S. Shaji () Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, NL, Mexico, 66450 e-mail: [email protected] B. Krishnan · S. Shaji CIIDIT, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Apodaca, NL, Mexico
sulfide (SnS) thin films have received more attention due to its abundance and non-toxicity of its elements (Sn, S), and the feasibility to obtain by many methods such as successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction [1], vacuum evaporation [2], spray pyrolysis [3], electrodeposition [4] and chemical bath deposition [5]. The properties of the SnS thin films that make it suitable for the photovoltaic applications, including a direct and indirect band gap reported in the range of 1– 1.6 eV, depending of the method of preparation, a high absorption coefficient (>104 cm−1 ), p-type conductivity, and the facility to obtain crystallization in orthorhombic and zinc blend structures [1, 6]. Various post-deposition or in situ treatments were utilized for modifications of thin film properties which could improve the material properties or device performance [7]. Among common post-deposition treatments used to improve the characteristics of SnS thin films were plasma treatments and annealing at different conditions and atmospheres, such as nitrogen, argon, vacuum or air [2, 5, 6, 8]. Researches were conducted on laser processing of semiconductor thin film structures and studies on photo-induced changes in the structural, morphological
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