STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS FOR A NANO-CRYSTALLINE FILM (ZnS) BY AEROSOL SPRAY PYROLYSIS TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Nano thin film materials play an indispensable role in modern electronics and other field of material sciences especially in a photovoltaic technology. The scope of this research is to grow Zinc Sulphide (ZnS) thin film and characterize structurally to understand the benefits of the study choosing chemical deposition method (The aerosol spray pyrolysis), the chemical combination analysis and the annealing temperature. Specifically on the film strength and its applications. In the light of this work, Nano crystalline ZnS thin films was grown by carefully dissolving 1.48g of Zinc Acetate (Zn(CH₃CO₂)₂) in 15ml of a distilled water (H₂O), Followed by the deposition of 50, 5, and 30ml of acetone (CH₃COCH₃), acetic acid (CH₃COOH) and ethanol (C₂H₆O) to the solution respectively, all in molar concentration of 0.1 M per ml. The solution was allowed to spray for 10 minutes on a soda lime glass substrate (SLG) at 300^oC. The process was repeated for the sample annealed at 300^oC and 400^oC under Nitrogen gas (N₂) environment for 60 minutes. The X-ray diffraction pattern of all the films deposited shows a cubic crystal type with mean crystallite size in the range 0.35nm as deposited, 0.4179 nm and 0.44nm at 300^oC and 400^oC annealing temperature respectively. Patterns of the sprayed film after performing the phase analysis reveal peaks corresponding to the (111) planes of reflection, which indicate the suitability of the deposition process and chemical combination. Furthermore, it is also concluded that the strength of the material depends on the annealing and substrate temperature.