Physical behaviour of nanocrystalline ZnS layers grown by close-spaced evaporation

Nano-crystalline ZnS films were deposited onto glass substrates by close-spaced. evaporation with different deposition rates in the range, 10-60 angstrom/sec at a substrate temperature of 300 degrees C. The as-grown layers were characterized with X-ray diffractometer (XRD), atomic force microscope (AFM), energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) and fluorescence spectrophotometer. The studies showed that the optimum rate of deposition for the growth of near stoichiometric ZnS layers was 20 angstrom/sec. The films exhibited cubic structure in the entire range of deposition rates. The AFM data revealed that the films had nanosized grains with a grain size of similar to 40 nn. The effect of rate of deposition onto photoluminescence behaviour was also studied.