Crystalline Indium Sulphide thin film by photo accelerated deposition technique

Abstract

Indium sulfide thin films deserve special attention because of its potential application as buffer layers in CIGS based solar cells. Highly transparent indium sulfide (InS) thin films were prepared using a novel method called photo accelerated chemical deposition (PCD). Ultraviolet source of 150 W was used to irradiate the solution. Compared to all other chemical methods, PCD scores its advantage for its low cost, flexible substrate and capable of large area of deposition. Reports on deposition of high quality InS thin films at room temperature are very rare in literature. The precursor solution was initially heated to 90°C for ten minutes and then deposition was carried out at room temperature for two hours. The appearance of the film changed from lemon yellow to bright yellow as the deposition time increased. The sample was characterized for its structural and optical properties. XRD profile showed the polycrystalline behavior of the film with mixed phases having crystallite size of 17 nm. The surface morphology of the films exhibited uniformly distributed honey comb like structures. The film appeared to be smooth and the value of extinction coefficient was negligible. Optical measurements showed that the film has more than 80% transmission in the visible region. The direct band gap energy was 2.47eV. This method is highly suitable for the synthesis of crystalline and transparent indium sulfide thin films and can be used for various photo voltaic applications.