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Thickness Effect on Properties of Sprayed In2S3 Films for Photovoltaic Applications

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Abstract

Indium sulfide (In2S3) films have been deposited on soda-lime glass substrates using a spray technique (CSP). Indium chloride and thiourea were used as precursors at a molar ratio of S:In = 2. The substrate temperature was fixed at 340°C. The effect of film thickness on the structural, morphological and optical properties of the as-deposited films has been studied. These films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical absorption spectroscopy. As-prepared samples were polycrystalline with a cubic structure and (400) as preferential orientation. Their grain size increased from 35 nm to 41 nm with increasing thickness whereas the dislocation density and microstrain of the films decreased with the increase of thickness. Both SEM and AFM images showed that the films were homogenous with an increase of the surface roughness with the increase of thickness. The optical transmittance of the films decreased from 80% to 20% in the visible and infrared regions when the thickness was increased from 0.78 μm to 6.09 μm. The optical band gap E g was found to be in the range of 2.75–2.19 eV and showed a decrease with film thickness. Based on the measured optical constants (n and k), a Wemple–Didomenico model was used to determine the values of single oscillator energy (E 0), dispersion energy (E d), optical band gap (E g) and high frequency dielectric constant (\( \varepsilon_{\infty } \)). In addition, these films exhibited n-type conductivity and were highly resistive. These results confirm that In2S3 thin films are a promising alternative as a buffer-layer material for CuInGa(S,Se)2-based solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank A. Belhadj Amara (Faculté des Sciences de Bizerte, Tunisia) and Z. Fakhfakh (Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Tunisia), for XRD and MEB measurements, respectively. We gratefully acknowledge Professor S. Alaya (Faculté des Sciences de Gabès, Tunisia), for the manuscript revision and the useful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Physique des Matériaux et des Nanomatériaux Appliquée à l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences de Gabès, Université de Gabès, Zrig, 6072, Gabès, Tunisia

    N. Bouguila & M. Kraini

  2. Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Abdou Moumouni, BP 10662, Niamey, Niger

    I. Halidou

  3. CNRS, UMR7588, Institut des NanoSciences de Paris, 4 place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

    E. Lacaze

  4. LPMC, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Le Belvédère, 1060, Tunis, Tunisia

    H. Bouchriha

  5. LPMS, Département de Génie Industriel, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, PB 37, Le Belvédère, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia

    H. Bouzouita

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  1. N. Bouguila
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  2. M. Kraini
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  3. I. Halidou
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  4. E. Lacaze
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  5. H. Bouchriha
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  6. H. Bouzouita
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Correspondence to N. Bouguila.

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Bouguila, N., Kraini, M., Halidou, I. et al. Thickness Effect on Properties of Sprayed In2S3 Films for Photovoltaic Applications. J. Electron. Mater. 45, 829–838 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4216-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-4216-4

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