Characterization of Cu2S-Doped Nanostructured ZnS Thin Films Deposited on Porous Silicon

Abstract

In this work, nanostructured zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films with different contents (2-10 at.%) of copper disulfide (Cu₂S) were prepared by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) method. The thin film samples with 2, 4 and 6 at.% of Cu₂S showed that the ZnS thin films have wurtzite structure. The peak belonging to the Cu₂S was observed on the x-ray diffraction patterns of the samples containing 8 and 10 at.% of Cu₂S. Furthermore, the x-ray diffraction patterns of porous silicon showed a broadening in the FHWM with increasing etching time. A reduction in the average diameter of the particles with increasing etching time was observed according to the results of atomic force microscopy performed on the prepared samples. The photoluminescence spectra of the porous silicon samples showed that the etching time has a significant effect on the position of UV emission and a blue shift was observed as the etching time was increased from 10 to 50 min.