Optostructural and electrical studies on electrodeposited Indium doped ZrS2 thin films

Electrochemical deposition and characterization of indium doped zirconium disulphide (In:ZrS2) thin films deposited onto stainless steel and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated conducting glass plates from an aqueous bath containing ZrO(NO3)2, Na2S2O3·5H2O and In2(SO4)3 is discussed in present manuscript. The prepared films were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical absorption techniques. The structure was found to be hexagonal with preferential orientation along (1 0 2) plane. SEM study shows that the total substrate surface is well covered by densely packed spherical shaped grains. Optical absorption study shows the presence of direct transition having band gap energy 1.78 eV. In:ZrS2 is n-type semiconductor having activation energy, 0.033 eV in low temperature region and 0.106 eV in high temperature region.