The influence of doping element on structural and luminescent characteristics of ZnS thin films

For the fabrication of green and blue emitting ZnS structures the elements of I, III, and VII groups (Cu, Al, Ga, Cl) are used as dopants. The influence of type of impurity, doping technique, and type of substrate on crystalline structure and surface morphology together with luminescent properties was investigated. The doping of thin films was realized during the growth process and/or post-deposition thermal treatment. ZnS thin films were deposited by physical (EBE) and chemical (MOCVD) methods onto glass or ceramic (BaTiO3) substrates. Closed spaced evaporation and thermodiffusion methods were used for the post-deposition doping of ZnS films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and measurements of photoluminescent (PL) spectra were used for the investigations. It was shown that the doping by the elements of I (Cu) and III (Al, Ga) groups does not change the crystal structure during the thermal treatment up to 1000 ∘C, whereas simultaneous use of the elements of I (Cu) and VII (Cl) groups leads to decrease of the phase transition temperature to 800 ∘C. The presence of impurities in the growth process leads to a grain size increase. At post-deposition treatment Ga and Cl act as activators of recrystallization process. The transition of ZnS sphalerite lattice to wurtzite one leads to the displacement of the blue emission band position towards the short-wavelength range by 10 nm.