Deposition time and annealing effects on morphological and optical properties of ZnS thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition

Nanocrystalline zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films are prepared on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method using aqueous solutions of zinc chloride, thiourea ammonium hydroxide along with non-toxic complexing agent tri-sodium citrate in alkaline medium at 80 °C. The deposition time and annealing effects on the optical and morphological properties are studied. The morphological, compositional, and optical properties of the films are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDAX) and UV-Vis spectroscopy. SEM micrographs exhibit uniform surface coverage. UV-Vis (300 nm to 800 nm) spectrophotometric measurements show transparency of the films (transmittance ranging from 69 % to 81 %), with a direct allowed energy band gap in the range of 3.87 eV to 4.03 eV. After thermal annealing at 500 °C for 120 min, the transmittance increases up to 87 %.