Thermal annealing induced linear/nonlinear properties of Ag2S/As2Se3 heterojunction films for optoelectronic applications

Abstract

The present study reports the annealing induced structural as well as optical properties of Ag2S/As2Se3 heterostructure film at different annealing temperatures. The trigonal AgAsSe2 phase formation was confirmed from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selective area electron diffraction (SAED) study. The bandgap of as-prepared Ag2S/As2Se3 film decreased on annealing. The reduction in bandgap increased the static refractive index with annealing. The Urbach energy increased from 422±3 meV to 464±2 meV whereas the optical density and extinction coefficient increased by annealing due to the formation of AgS–AsSe solid solution. The dispersion energy increased and consequently increased the oscillator wavelength and oscillator strength upon annealing. The carrier concentration and optical conductivity increased whereas the optical electronegativity decreased with annealing. The 3rd order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) increased from 2.804x10−11 esu (as-prepared Ag2S/As2Se3) to 5.132 x10−11 esu upon annealing at 200 °C. The n2 value increased upon annealing which increased the nonlinear absorption coefficient but decreased the figure-of-merit. The contact angle value decreased (93°–47.6°) that shows the transformation of hydrophobicity to hydrophilic nature which is good for sensor applications like biological sensor. The surface roughness decreased upon annealing. The change in optical parameters upon annealing makes them the appropriate candidate for optoelectronics, dielectric and nonlinear optical applications such as memory devices, optical switch, etc.