Abstract
We have investigated the effect of Cu dopant and substrate temperature on the structural and optical properties of ZnS thin films deposited on glass substrate by spray pyrolysis technique. The glass substrate temperature varied from 300 to 450 °C. Different characterization methods such as X-ray diffractometry, EDS, SEM, and Raman scattering analyses for studying the structural, morphological and optical properties of the prepared ZnS and ZnS:Cu samples were carried out. Improvement in crystallization, increase in crystallite size and also better growth orientation along the (111) direction are clearly evident due to the increase in the substrate temperature. Cu doping effects on the displacement of diffraction peaks towards larger angles and decrease in crystallite size which caused by this impurity are the main results of this studies. The absence of any other impurity in samples, smooth surface, homogenous structure and spherical shape of crystals have approved by EDS analysis and SEM imagining, respectively. Raman scattering spectra of ZnS and ZnS:Cu in ambient condition not only indicate E and A Raman first order scattering of ZnS, but also indicate an intense peak about 334 cm−1 related to surface optical phonon mode in this nanostructure. Optical properties of thin films determined by UV–Vis spectroscopy and the energy band gap was calculated with ZnS doping rates. Photoluminescence analysis and origin of green emission peak at 533 nm and red peak at 745 nm were discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmad, A.M., Ahmed, N.M.: Effect of deposition temperature on structural and optical properties of chemically sprayed ZnS thin films. Proc. Chem. 19, 485–491 (2016)
Amaranatha Reddy, D., Murali, G., Poornaprakash, B., Vijayalakshmi, R.P., Reddy, B.K.: Structural, optical and magnetic properties of Zn0.97–xCuxCr0.03S nanoparticles. Appl. Surf. Sci. 258, 5206–5211 (2012)
Birman, J.L.: Theory of infrared and raman processes in crystals; selection rules in diamond and zincblende. Phys. Rev. 131, 1489 (1963)
Bouznit, Y., Beggah, Y., Wang, M., Tabet, N.: Co-spray manganez doped zinc sulfide films. J. Lumin. 151, 76–81 (2014)
Brafman, O., Mitra, S.S.: Raman effect in wurtzite- and zinc-blende-type ZnS single crystals. Phys. Rev. 171, 931–934 (1968)
Chalana, S.R., Jolly Bose, R., Reshmi Krishnan, R., Kavitha, V.S., Sreeja Sreedharan, R., Mahadevan Pillai, V.P.: Structural phase modification in Cu incorporated nanostructured zinc sulfide thin films. J. Phys. Chem. Solids 95, 9524–9536 (2016)
Cheng, Y.C., Jin, C.Q., Gao, F., Wu, X.L., Zong, W., Li, S.H., Chu, P.K.: Raman scattering study of zinc blende and wurtzite ZnS. J. Appl. Phys. 106, 123505 (2009)
Cullity, D.B.: Elements of X-ray Diffraction. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Boston (1956)
Inkson, J.C.: Many-body effects at metal-semiconductor junctions. II. The self-energy and band structure distortion. J. Phys. C Solid State Phys. 6(8), 1350 (1973)
Kalirajan, K., Harikengaram, S., Velusubhash, S., Murugesan, R.: Fabrication and characterization studies of capped Cu2+ ion doped ZnS nanoparticles. Int. J. Appl. Res. 1(13), 647–649 (2015)
Karamat, S., Mahmood, S., Lin, J.J., Pan, Z.Y., Lee, P., Tan, T.L., Springham, S.V., Ramanujan, R.V., Rawat, R.S.: Structural, optical and magnetic properties of (ZnO)1x(MnO2)x thin films deposited at room temperature. Surf. Sci. 254, 7285–7289 (2008)
Kaur, J., Sharma, M.: Structural and optical studies of undoped and copper doped zinc sulphide nanoparticles for photocatalytic application. Superlattices Microstruct. 77, 35–53 (2015)
Kaur, J., Sharma, M., Pandey, O.P.: Photoluminescence and photocatalytic studies of metal ions (Mn and Ni) doped ZnS nanoparticles. Opt. Mater. 47, 7–17 (2015)
Kennedy, J., Murmu, P.P.: Effects of annealing on the structural and optical properties of zinc sulfide thin films deposited by ion beam sputtering. Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 26, 561–566 (2014)
Kim, C.E., Moon, P., Kim, S., Myoung, J., Jang, H.W., Bang, J., Yun, I.: Effect of carrier concentration on optical bandgap shift in ZnO:Ga thin films. Thin Solid Films 518, 6304–6307 (2010)
Lee, S., Song, D., Kim, D., Lee, J., Kim, S., Park, I.Y., Choi, Y.D.: Effects of synthesis temperature on particle size/shape and photoluminescence characteristics of ZnS:Cu nanocrystals. Mater. Lett. 58, 342–346 (2004)
Nilsen, W.G.: Raman spectrum of cubic Zns. Phys. Rev. 182, 3 (1969)
Offor, P.O., Okorie, B.A., Ezema, F.I., Aigbodion, V.S., Daniel-mkpume, C.C., Omah, A.D.: Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline zinc sulphide thin films by chemical spray pyrolysis. J. Alloys Compd. 650, 381–385 (2015)
Peng, W.Q., Cong, G.W., Wang, S.C., Wang, Z.G.: Synthesis and photoluminescence of ZnS:Cu nanoparticles. Opt. Mater. 29, 313–317 (2006)
Ravichandran, K., Vasanthi, M., Thirumurugan, K., Sakthivel, B., Karthika, K.: Annealing induced reorientation of crystallites in Sn doped ZnO films. Opt. Mater. 37, 59–64 (2014)
Ravichandran, K., Uma, R., Sriram, S., Balamurgan, D.: Fabrication of ZnO:Ag/GO composite thin films for enhanced photocatalytic activity. Ceram. Int. 43, 10041–10051 (2017)
Scherder, B., Kiefer, W.: In: Lewis, I.R., Edwards, H.G.M. (eds.) Hand Book of Raman Spectroscopy, vol. 28, p. 491. Dekker, New York (2001)
Schnider, J., Kirby, R.D.: Raman scattering from ZnS polytypes. Phys. Rev. B 6, 1290 (1972)
Scott, J.F.: UV resonant raman scattering in ZnO. Phys. Rev. B 2, 1209 (1970)
Serrano, J., Cantarero, A., Cardona, M., Garro, N., Lauck, R., Tallman, R.E., Ritter, T.M., Weinstein, B.A.: Raman scattering in β-ZnS. Phys. Rev. B 69, 014301 (2004)
Skierbiszewski, C.: Experimental studies of the conduction-band structure of GaInNAs alloys. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 17, 803–814 (2002)
Sun, L., Liu, C., Liao, C., Yan, C.: ZnS nanoparticles doped with Cu(I) by controlling coordination and precipitation in aqueous solution. J. Mater. Chem. 9, 1655–1657 (1999)
Sun, C.Q., Pan, L.K., Li, C.M., Li, S.: Size-induced acoustic hardening and optic softening of phonons in InP, CeO2, SnO2, CdS, Ag, and Si nanostructures. Phys. Rev. B 72, 134301 (2005)
Wesselinowa, J.M., Apostolov, A.T.: Origin of the acoustic phonon frequency shifts in semiconducting nanoparticles. Phys. Lett. A 374, 4455–4457 (2010)
Xiong, Q., Wang, J., Reese, O., Lew, L.C., Voon, Y., Eklund, P.C.: Raman scattering from surface phonons in rectangular cross-sectional w-ZnS nanowires. Nano Lett. 4(10), 1991–1996 (2004)
Xu, S.J., Chua, S.J., Liu, B., Gan, L.M., Chew, C.H., Xu, G.Q.: Luminescence characteristics of impurities-activated ZnS nanocrystals prepared in microemulsion with hydrothermal treatment. Appl. Phys. Lett. 73, 478 (1998)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khanlary, M.R., Alizade, F. & Malekfar, R. Optical and structural investigation of ZnS:Cu thin films synthesized by spray pyrolysis. Opt Quant Electron 52, 237 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-020-02370-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-020-02370-0