Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of Cu-Doped ZnS Nanoparticles Prepared by Solid-State Reaction

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is one of the leading semiconductors for optoelectronic device applications. Here, we focused on synthesizing the undoped and transition metal (Cu)-doped ZnS (Zn1-x\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$_{1-x}$$\end{document}Cux\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$_{x}$$\end{document}S) nanoparticles at different copper concentrations (x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07) using solid-state reaction. The synthesized Zn1-x\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$_{1-x}$$\end{document}Cux\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$_{x}$$\end{document}S nanoparticles were subjected to different characterizations such as XRD, FE-SEM, EDS, UV-visible spectroscopy, PL, and two probe methods to study their structural, morphological, elemental, optical, and electrical properties. The XRD profile revealed that the prepared nanoparticles were in cubic structure with predominant orientation along (1 1 1) plane. The EDAX spectra confirmed the presence of host and dopant elements such as Zn, S, and Cu without any impurity elements. The formation of spherical-shaped clusters was confirmed by FE-SEM images. Using absorption spectra, the band gaps were calculated. Novel luminescence features, i.e., blue, green, and orange-red emission peaks, were observed in the photoluminescence spectra. Electrical properties were studied using two probe method (Keysight B2900 source meter).