Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 40, 149-154 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap:2007137

Effect of annealing on In₂S₃ thin films prepared by flash evaporation

¹ Laboratoire Matériaux et Énergies Renouvelables (LMER), Université Ibn Zohr Dép. physique, Faculté des sciences, BP 8106, Hay Dakhla, 80000 Agadir, Morocco
² Laboratoire de physique des solides et des couches minces, Département de physique, Faculté des sciences Semlalia, BP S/3293, Marrakech, Morocco
³ Structure des Interfaces et Fonctionnalités des Couches Minces (SIFCOM), Ensicaen, Bd Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen, France

Corresponding author: 63kb@caramail.com

Received: 15 February 2007
Revised: 17 July 2007
Accepted: 30 July 2007
Published online: 21 September 2007

Abstract

In₂S₃ thin films were deposited by flash evaporation of In₂S₃ powder. The effect of annealing in vacuum and under sulphur and oxygen atmosphere on the structural, compositional and optical properties of these films was investigated. X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the as-deposited films are amorphous. The formation of β-In₂S₃ phase is obtained after annealing under vacuum at 693 K or under sulphur pressure at a lower annealing temperature (573 K). The EDAX analysis reveals that the sulphurized films are nearly stoichiometric and those annealed in vacuum are sulphur deficient. Optical transmission spectra showed a slight shift of the absorption edge towards lower wavelengths. The optical gap value varied between 2.4 and 3 eV as a function of the film thickness, the annealing temperature and the atmosphere ambient.