Structural and optical properties of thermally annealed thallium indium disulfide thin films

Abstract

Structural and optical properties of thallium indium disulfide (TlInS2) thin films, deposited by thermal evaporation technique and thermally annealed at different temperatures, were analyzed. Crystallite size, dislocation density and lattice strain of the thin films were found from X-ray diffraction experiments. The atomic compositions of the films were determined from energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis. Surface morphology of the films was analyzed using atomic force microscopy. From room temperature transmittance spectrum, the band gap energies of the films were identified. The decrease in band gap energies of the films with the annealing temperature up to 300 ˚C was observed due to increase in crystallite size and decrease in lattice strain. From Raman measurements, it was observed that the Raman shifts of the films were well correlated with those of TlInS2 bulk crystal.