Effects of Concentration and Substrate Type on Structure and Conductivity of p-Type CuS Thin Films Grown by Spray Pyrolysis Deposition

Abstract

Copper sulphide (CuS) thin films were grown upon Ti, indium tin oxide (ITO), and glass substrates by using spray pyrolysis deposition at 200°C. The films exhibited good adhesion compared to chemical bath deposition. CuCl2·2H2O and Na2S2O3·5H2O precursors were used as Cu2+ and S2− sources, respectively. Two concentrations (i.e., 0.2 M and 0.4 M) were selected in this study. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the films with 0.2 M showed only the formation of a covellite CuS phase having a hexagonal crystal structure with diffraction peaks of low intensity. For 0.4 M concentration, in addition to the covellite CuS phase, chalcocite Cu2S phase having a hexagonal crystal structure also appeared with relatively higher intensity peaks for all thin films. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy observations showed the formation of small grains for 0.2 M, whereas a mixture of grains with square-like shape and nanoplates were formed for 0.4 M. Depending on the 0.2 M and 0.4 M thin films thicknesses (3.2 μm and 4 μm, respectively), the band gap energy was obtained from optical measurements to be approximately 2.64 eV for 0.2 M (pure CuS phase), which slightly decreased up to 2.56 eV for 0.4 M concentration. Hall effect measurements showed that all grown films are p-type. The 0.2 M film exhibited much lower sheet resistance (R sh = 33.96 Ω/Sq–55.70 Ω/Sq) compared to 0.4 M film (R sh = 104.33 Ω/Sq–466.6 Ω/Sq). Moreover, for both concentrations, the films deposited onto ITO substrate showed the lowest sheet resistance (R sh = 33.96 Ω/Sq–104.33 Ω/Sq).