Synthesis, growth and physical properties of silver gallium sulfide single crystals

The temperature oscillation method was used to synthesize dense single-phase polycrystalline AgGaS2 from high purity elements. AgGaS2 single crystal of 8 mm diameter and 45 mm length, free of voids and crack was obtained by the descending ampoule with steady ampoule rotation method using the synthesized polycrystalline charge. The grown crystal was subjected to powder X-ray diffraction and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The AgGaS2 has been studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique. The single crystal has high transmission of 75% in the Mid IR region. The band gap energy was calculated using absorption spectrum. The stoichiometric composition of AgGaS2 was measured using energy dispersive spectrometry (EDAX). The structural and compositional uniformities of AgGaS2 were studied using micro-Raman scattering spectroscopy at room temperature. The photoluminescence behavior of AgGaS2 has been analyzed. It shows the maximum emission at 538 nm. The resistivity of the grown single crystal has been measured.