Optical properties upon ZnS film thickness in ZnS/ITO/glass multilayer films by ellipsometric and spectrophotometric investigations for solar cell and optoelectronic applications

Abstract

ZnS film with various thicknesses (d ≈ 100–350 nm) deposited on the ITO coated glass substrate (ZnS/ITO/glass) by an electron beam evaporation process was examined structurally and optically. Different techniques were used to specify and analyze the optical characteristics of the film, such as spectroscopic ellipsometric (SE) and spectrophotometric (SP). The ZnS/ITO/glass films exhibit a wurtzite hexagonal type structure entrenched in the crystalline background of ITO film. XRD analysis revealed changes in structural and microstructural parameters, such as a decrease in lattice parameters, a reduction in microstrain, and a raise in crystallite size. The optical constants and the optical energy gap were extracted from SE by constructing an ellipsometric optical model, while the optical constants were calculated from SP by using Murmann's exact equations. It was seen that the overall behaviour of the refractive index n of the ZnS/ITO/glass films obtained from SE and SP increases with an increase in ZnS layer thickness, which is attributed to the increment of the size of the grain. It was additionally found that, the overall behaviour of the extinction coefficient k of the ZnS/ITO/glass films increases, when the thickness of the ZnS layer increments. Also, the direct optical transition was observed with energy band gap diminishes from 3.423 (d = 100 nm) eV to 3.287 eV (d = 350 nm) that is because of the rise in grain size, the decrease in microstrain, and reduction in lattice constants. Furthermore, it was found that the deposition of ZnS on ITO coated glass substrate increases the absorption compared with the ZnS/glass film and then reduces the transmittance and energy band gap. It was concluded that as the ZnS thickness increases, the optical constants of ZnS/ITO/glass films enhance. Finally, the overall behaviour of the optical constants within the experimental error range of the ZnS/ITO/glass films with different ZnS layer thicknesses obtained by SE was found to be consistent with that calculated from SP measurement. • Synthesis of various thicknesses (d ≈ 100–350 nm) of (ZnS/ITO/glass) via electron beam evaporation. • Investigation of the effects of film thickness on the optical and structural properties of (ZnS/ITO/glass). • The increase in ZnS thickness led to enhance the optical constants of ZnS/ITO/glass films.