Role of Zinc Source in Chemical Bath Deposition of Zinc Sulfide Thin Films on Si3N4

• Published in: Journal of electronic materials 2014-11, Vol.43 (11), p.4317-4321
• Main Authors: Luque, P. A., Gómez-Gutiérrez, Claudia M., Lastra, G., Carrillo-Castillo, A., Quevedo-López, M. A., Olivas, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Electronics and Microelectronics; Exact sciences and technology; Instrumentation; Liquid phase epitaxy; deposition from liquid phases (melts, solutions, and surface layers on liquids); Materials Science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Optical and Electronic Materials; Physics; Solid State Physics; Theory and models of film growth
• ISSN: 0361-5235; 1543-186X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-014-3334-8

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films have been grown by chemical bath deposition (CBD) using different zinc sources on a silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) substrate in an alkaline solution. The zinc precursors used were zinc acetate, zinc nitrate, and zinc sulfate. The structural and optical characteristics of the ZnS thin films obtained were analyzed. The morphology of the surface showed that the films were compact and uniform, with some pinholes in the surface depending on the zinc source. The most homogeneous and compact surfaces were those obtained using zinc nitrate as the zinc source with a root-mean-square (RMS) value of 3 nm. The transmission spectra indicated average transmittance of 80% to 85% in the spectral range from 300 nm to 800 nm, and the optical bandgap calculated for the films was around 3.71 eV to 3.74 eV.