Optimising conditions for the growth of nanocrystalline ZnS thin films from acidic chemical baths

The growth of nanocrystalline zinc sulfide thin films onto glass substrates by chemical bath deposition has been optimized at acidic pH. Powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD) confirms the deposition of sphalerite, the cubic phase of ZnS. The crystallite size calculated by Scherrer equation was found to be 4.0 nm. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) show clusters of spherical nanoparticles uniformly distributed over the surface of the glass substrates. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis of the deposited thin films show the zinc to sulfur ratio close to 1:1. The observed band gap (3.78 eV) of the deposited thin films is higher than that reported for cubic phase of bulk ZnS (3.54 eV) as expected due to nano-size crystallites. Binding energies calculated by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) confirm the material as ZnS and the photoluminescence measurements show the blue shift in emission maximum. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.