ABSTRACT

Thin films of antimony sulphide Sb2S3 were grown on glass substrate from a bath containing antimony trichioride (SbCl3) dissolved in acetone (CH3CO) and sodium thiosuiphate (Na2S2O3) using chemical bath deposition technique. Some of the films were deposited in the oven at 55°C while others were deposited at room temperature (25°C) before some samples were annealed at different temperatures of 100, 200, and 400°C. The spectral absorbance and percentage transmittance were measured with a spectrophotometer in the UV, VIS & NIR regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Other optical and solid state properties of the films such as reflectance (R), refractive index (n), absorption coefficient (a), extinction coefficient (k), real dielectric constant (Er), imaginary dielectric constant (ci), optical conductivity (a) were evaluated using mathematical relations. Their values were further obtained with Microsoft Excel packages. The surface microstructures obtained for the films show that the films have varying polycrystalline anangements. X- ray diffraction (XRD) crystallographic analysis revealed that some of the thin films are nanocrystalline while others are amorphous. The crystalline films have varying crystallite sizes. Some variations in the properties of Sb2S3 thin films were mainly due to the difference in deposition temperatures and also due to the thermal annealing of the films at different temperatures. The results provide a method for producing Sb2S3thin films of varying material properties for various applications. Microelectronics, antireflection, solar absorbers and protective coatings are some areas of application of these thin films.