Structural and electrical characterization of AgInS2 thin films grown by single-source thermal evaporation method

Abstract

Structural and electrical properties of AgInS2 (AIS) thin films grown by single-source thermal evaporation method were studied. The X-ray diffraction spectra indicated that the AIS single phase was successfully grown by annealing above 400∘C in air. The grain size of the AIS crystals was above 2.5 μm from the surface photograph. Furthermore, the AIS grain sizes became large with increasing the annealing temperatures. All the samples indicated n-type conduction by the Van der Pauw technique. The carrier concentrations and the resistivities of the AIS films at room temperature were in the range of 1019–1022 cm−3 and 10−1–10−3 Ωcm, respectively. Therefore the mobilities increased from 0.6 to 6.0 cm2/Vs with increasing the grain sizes.