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Optical characteristics of the novel nanosized thin ZnGa2S4 films sprayed at different deposition times: Determination of optical band-gap energy using different methods

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Abstract

This article has been allocated to studying microstructural features and optical properties of the novel sprayed polycrystalline thin ZnGa2S4 films. These novel films have been deposited on microscopic soda lime glass substrates at different deposition times (5, 10, 15, 20 min). The crystal structure, crystallinity degree and crystalline volume fraction have been studied using X-ray diffractograms. The stoichiometry of ZnGa2S4 films has been checked using energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The field-emission-scanning-electron microscope, SEM has been utilized to investigate the particle size and surface morphology of films. SEM micrographs showed that the particle size of these films increased from 21.231 nm to 75.569 nm as deposition time increased. Optical properties have been studied employing transmittance and reflectance spectra in the range 300–2500 nm. Very important optical parameters such as absorption coefficient, skin depth, Urbach energy, steepness parameters, and electron–phonon interactions have been extensively studied. The direct and indirect gap energy have been investigated by different models and compared with Tauc’s model. The optical band gap energy values slightly decrease from 4.10 to 3.70 eV as the deposition time increases. The hot-probe experiment validates our films’ propensity for acting as n-type semiconductors. The current findings recommend using these films in many Photovoltaic applications as a window layer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Basic Engineering Sciences Department, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra - Cairo, 11629, Benha University, Benha, Egypt

    Ahmed Saeed Hassanien

  2. College of Computing and Information Technology, Shaqra, 11961, Shaqra University, Shaqra, Saudi Arabia

    Ahmed Saeed Hassanien

  3. Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Minia University, El-Minia, 61519, Egypt

    Alaa Ahmed Akl

  4. Physics Department, Faculty of Science and Humanities at Ad-Dawadmi, 11911, Shaqra University, Shaqra, Saudi Arabia

    Alaa Ahmed Akl

  5. Electron Microscopy and Thin Films Department, Physics Research Institute, National Research Centre, El-Bohoos Str., 12622, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

    I. M. El Redaf

  6. Department of Physics, College of Science and Arts at ArRass - Qassim University, ArRass, 51921, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    I. M. El Redaf

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  1. Ahmed Saeed Hassanien
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Contributions

Ahmed Saeed Hassanien: conceptualization, data curation, investigation, methodology, project administration, resources, software, validation, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing. supervision.

Alaa Ahmed Akl: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, software, resources, validation, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing.

I.M. El Radaf: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, funding acquisition, project administration, software, resources, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Ahmed Saeed Hassanien.

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Hassanien, A.S., Akl, A.A. & Redaf, I.M.E. Optical characteristics of the novel nanosized thin ZnGa2S4 films sprayed at different deposition times: Determination of optical band-gap energy using different methods. emergent mater. 6, 943–964 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42247-023-00493-0

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