Deposition and Characterization of ZnSnSe₂ Thin-Films Deposited by Using Sintered Stoichiometric Powder

Abstract

In this work, ZnSnSe2 (ZTSe) thin films were deposited using crystalline powder grown by vertical Bridgman-Stockbarger technique. The deposition process was carried out by means of e-beam evaporation on the well-cleaned soda lime glass substrates and keeping them at the substrate temperature of 200 degrees C. The structural, optical and electrical properties of ternary ZTSe thin films were investigated depending on the annealing temperature at 250 and 300 degrees C. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that as-grown films were in amorphous structure, however annealing at 250 degrees C triggered the crystallization on the preferred ternary structure and annealing at 300 degrees C resulted in the changes from amorphous to the polycrystalline structure. Using the compositional analysis, the detail information about the stoichiometry and the segregation mechanisms of the constituent elements in the structure were determined for both as-grown and annealed samples. In addition, they were morphologically characterized using scanning electron microscopy technique. The electrical properties were analyzed using temperature dependent dark- and photo-conductivity measurements. From the variation of electrical conductivity as a function of the ambient temperature, the current transport mechanisms and corresponding activation energies at specific temperature intervals for each sample were determined. The optical properties for the ZTSe thin films were studied depending on the structural changes with annealing.