Structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline Sb2S3 films deposited by chemical solution deposition

Films of Sb2S3 nanocrystals were deposited using chemical solution deposition. The structural and optical properties of the deposited films were investigated as a function of reaction time and temperature of the solution bath. The X-ray diffractometric studies confirmed the orthorhombic phase of Sb2S3 in the deposited films with steady variation in crystallinity. The effect of the bath conditions apparently was found to be playing a significant role in controlling the reaction rate resulting in the morphological evolution of the Sb2S3 nanocrystals. The band gaps of the deposited Sb2S3 films obtained from the optical absorption studies were found to be in the range 1.9-2.0 eV and suggest the possibility of band gap tunability of Sb2S3 in the visible region. The photoluminescence studies revealed that the Sb2S3 nanocrystals showed apparent band edge luminescence at around 610 nm and Stokes shifted defect induced emission at around 717 nm.