Characterisation of p-type ZnS:Cu transparent conducting films fabricated by high-temperature pulsed laser deposition

Katherine S. Duncan; Joseph D. Taylor; Martin Jonak; Kayleigh O. E. Derricutt; Alexander G. J. Tallon; Christopher E. Wilshaw; James A. Smith; Neil A. Fox

arXiv · 1711.07579

Characterisation of p-type ZnS:Cu transparent conducting films fabricated by high-temperature pulsed laser deposition

Katherine S. Duncan·Joseph D. Taylor·Martin Jonak·Kayleigh O. E. Derricutt·Alexander G. J. Tallon·Christopher E. Wilshaw·James A. Smith·Neil A. Fox

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Abstract

Copper-doped zinc sulphide (ZnS:Cu) thin films were synthesized through pulsed laser ablation in an inert background gas on stationary and rotating substrates, and a comprehensive opto-electrical characterisation is presented. The Cu$_x$Zn$_{1-x}$S films demonstrated comparable conductivity and transparency to other leading p-type transparent conducting materials, with a peak conductivity of 49.0 Scm$^{-1}$ and a hole mobility of 1.22 cm$^2$V$^{-1}$s$^{-1}$ for films alloyed with an x = 0.33 copper content. The most conducting films displayed a transparency of 71.8$\%$ over the visible range at a thickness of 100 nm, and band gaps were found in the range 3.22-3.52 eV, which showed a strong negative correlation with copper content. The effects of sulphur-rich rapid thermal annealing on the synthesized compound are reported, with films reliably displaying an increase in conductivity and carrier mobility. Films grown using a stationary substrate possessed large spatial thickness distributions and displayed sub-band gap absorption, which is discussed with respect to inhomogeneous copper substitution. Films deposited at 450$^\circ$C were found to be in the zincblende phase before and after annealing, with no occurrence of a phase change to wurtzite structure.

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Katherine S. Duncan, Joseph D. Taylor, Martin Jonak, Kayleigh O. E. Derricutt, Alexander G. J. Tallon, Christopher E. Wilshaw, James A. Smith, Neil A. Fox. 2017-11-20. Characterisation of p-type ZnS:Cu transparent conducting films fabricated by high-temperature pulsed laser deposition. https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.07579

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