Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Replacement of sulphur with selenium in antimony sulphide thin films

  • Published:
Bulletin of Materials Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study aims to determine the extent to which sulphur can be replaced with selenium in the Sb2S3 matrix. The relevance of this work is that this replacement reaction forms the underlying principle for the formation of the ternary compound AgSbSe2 from the binary compound Sb2S3. AgSbSe2 is a compound semiconductor belonging to the I-V-VI2 group that has applications in photovoltaics. Even though there are numerous reports of heating multilayers of Sb2S3/Ag/Se or Sb2S3/Ag2Se/Ag to produce AgSbSe2, none of them have resulted in a pure ternary phase. This study explores the possibilities and limitations of the replacement of sulphur with selenium in antimony sulphide thin film. In this work, selenium is deposited on Sb2S3 layer and the resulting structure is annealed at 200°C. The replacement reaction was found to be incomplete at this temperature. The temperature of annealing could not be increased any further as the elemental selenium could not withstand higher temperatures. Hence, a protective layer of silver was coated on top of the selenium layer, and the temperature of annealing was increased to higher values. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the multilayer film.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Petkov K, Todorov R, Kozhuharova D, Tichy L, Cernoskova E and Ewen P J S 2004 J. Mater. Sci. 39 961

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Versavel M Y and Haber J A 2007 Thin Solid Films 515 7171

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rajpure K Y and Bhosale C H 2000 J. Phys. Chem. Solids 61 561

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Aousgi F and Kanzari M 2011 Energy Procedia 10 313

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Maghraoui-Meherzi H, Ben Nasr T, Kamoun N and Dachraoui M 2011 C. R. Chimie 14 471

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Salem A M and Selim M S 2001 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 34 12

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Messina S, Nair M T S and Nair P K 2007 Thin Solid Films 515 5777

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ben Nasr T, Maghraoui-Meherzi H, Ben Abdallah H and Bennaceur R 2011 Phys. B: Condens. Matter 406 287

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zhou Y, Leng M, Xia Z, Zhong J, Song H, Liu X et al 2014 Adv. Energy Mater. 4 1301846

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Escorcia-García J, Becerra D, Nair M T S and Nair P K 2014 Thin Solid Films 569 28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Mane R S, Sankapal B R and Lokhande C D 1999 Thin Solid Films 353 29

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Rajpure K Y and Bhosale C H 2002 Mater. Chem. Phys. 73 6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lokhande C D, Sankapal B R, Mane R S, Pathan H M, Muller M, Giersig M et al 2002 Appl. Surf. Sci. 193 1

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Ezema F I, Ekwealor A B C, Asogwa P U, Ugwuoke P E, Chigbo C and Osuji R U 2007 Turk. J. Phys. 31 205

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Krishnan B, Arato A, Cardenas E, Das Roy T K and Castillo G A 2008 Appl. Surf. Sci. 254 3200

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Hamam M, EL-Gendy Y A, Selim M S, Teleb N H and Salem A M 2009 Chalcogenide Lett. 6 359

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Garza J G, Shaji S, Rodriguez A C, Das Roy T K and Krishnan B 2011 Appl. Surf. Sci. 257 10834

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Madelung O 1992 Semiconductors other than group IV elements and III–V compounds (Data in Science and Technology), 1st edn. Berlin: Springer

    Google Scholar 

  19. Bindu K, Campos J, Nair M T S, Sanchez A and Nair P K 2005 Semicond. Sci. Technol. 20 496

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. González J O, Shaji S, Avellaneda D, Castillo A G, DasRoy T K and Krishnan B 2013 Mater. Res. Bull. 48 1939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Bindu K, Lakshmi M, Bini S, Sudha Kartha C, Vijayakumar K P, Abe T et al 2002 Semicond. Sci. Technol. 17 270

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Garza J G, Shaji S, Arato A M, Perez-Tijerina E, Rodriguez A C, Das Roy T K et al 2009 Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1165 M08-25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Xiao K, Xu Q-Z, Ye K-H, Liu Z-Q, Fu L-M, Li N, Chen Y-B et al 2013 ECS Solid State Lett. 2 P51

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Tian Y, Sun Z, Zhao Y, Tan T, Liu H and Chen Z 2018 J. Nanomater. Article ID 4273945 https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4273945

  25. Kamruzzaman M, Liu C, Farid Ul Islam A K M and Zapien J A 2017 Semiconductors 51 1615

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhang J-Y, Lv L, Tian Y, Li Z, Ao X, Lan Y et al 2017 ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 9 33833

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Mohanty B C, Malar P, Osipowicz T, Murty B S, Varma S and Kasiviswanathan S 2009 Surf. Interface Anal. 41 170

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Morgan W E, Stec W J and Van Wazer J R 1973 Inorg. Chem. 12 953

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Izquierdo R, Sacher E and Yelon A 1989 Appl. Surf. Sci. 40 175

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Kaushik V K 1991 J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom. 56 273

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Tjeng L H, Meinders M B J, Van Elp J, Ghijsen J, Sawatzky G A and Johns R L 1990 Phys. Rev. B 41 3190

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support provided by UGC through the minor project 1600-MRP/14-15/KLCA021/UGC-SWRO to carry out this study. We also acknowledge DST-FIST (grant number SR/FST/College-237/2014(C)) for providing financial support for developing the laboratory facilities for carrying out the research. We express sincere gratitude to Dr Sadasivan Shaji and Dr Bindu K, Facultad de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico, for helping with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Acknowledgement is also extended to STIC, CUSAT, Cochin, for the analytical facilities SEM, EDS and XRD.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Mercy College, University of Calicut, Palakkad, 678006, India

    Anu Kuruvilla, Melda Francis & M Lakshmi

  2. Department of Physics, Christ College, University of Calicut, Irinjalakkuda, 680125, India

    Anu Kuruvilla, Melda Francis & K S Sudheer

Authors
  1. Anu Kuruvilla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Melda Francis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K S Sudheer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M Lakshmi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Lakshmi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kuruvilla, A., Francis, M., Sudheer, K.S. et al. Replacement of sulphur with selenium in antimony sulphide thin films. Bull Mater Sci 45, 66 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-021-02651-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12034-021-02651-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation