Effect of laser irradiation on RF-sputtered antimony sulfide thin films

One of the drawbacks of Sb2S3 thin films is the lack of crystallinity if no thermal treatment is applied. The interest for the development of crystallinity is to improve their properties. Thus, laser irradiation could provide sufficient energy to improve the crystallinity in the above-indicated material. In this work, Radio Frequency (RF)-sputtered Sb2S3 thin films were irradiated with a continuous CO2 laser. Laser treated samples showed crystallization corresponding to the stibnite phase (Sb2S3). Furthermore, the morphology of the sample changed from a cracked surface (before irradiation) to a more dense/homogeneous film (after irradiation). The structural and morpho-logical changes induced by laser irradiation tend to improve the optical and electrical properties aside the crystalline one. When the sample was treated with laser, an increase in optical and photoconductivity properties were detected. The results presented here demonstrate the possibility of improving the quality of Sb2S3 films when a far-infrared laser is applied.