Structural and Optical Analysis of Chemically Deposited ZnS Thin Films for Optoelectronic Devices Applications

We have produced thin film samples of cubic ZnS by the chemical bath method. These samples were synthesized using zinc chloride, thiourea, sodium citrate and ammonia solutions at varied deposition time from 24h to 96h. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmittance and photoluminescence (PL) analyses provided the physical characteristics of cubic ZnS films with crystal plane orientations (2 0 0) and (2 2 2), lattice parameters of 5.648 Å and an atomic plane distance d=1.412 Å. The grain size calculed are 16.53 nm and 17.12 nm. PL revealed deep defects in the gap with peaks in the visible, with prominent emissions at 430 nm (blue) and 510 nm (green). The measured transmittance of the films is 88.6%.