Effect of complex agent concentration on the structural and morphological properties of CuAlS2 thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition technique

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CuAlS2 thin films have been prepared on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique at a substrate temperature (Ts) 75C, pH value 10.5, and fixed deposition time 40 minutes. In this study effect of molar concentrations (0.03, 0.05, and 0.06 M) of complex agent Na2EDTA on structural, morphological, and topological properties of deposit thin films were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with cross section, and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The result showed that all prepared films were amorphous structures. The cross section analysis showed a good adhesion between prepared films and glass substrates, average thickness of films was affected by concentration of complex agent, where was low at 0.03 and 0.06 M, while was high at 0.05 M. The prepared films showed homogenous and uniform spherical nanoparticles with average grain size (64 to 79 nm) increased with increasing complex agent concentration. AFM images showed that the prepared films at 0.05 and 0.06 M had the same structures as conical and spherical shapes with the homogenous distribution on the surface of the films compared with that at 0.03 M. Also, the surface roughness, and root mean square (rms) roughness were varied in the range (0.33 to 1.74 nm) and (0.44 to 2.34 nm), respectively, where the less roughness were found at 0.05 M complex agent. The prepared films at 0.05 M complex agent showed the best properties which can be useful for many applications in optoelectronics devices.