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Structural, Swanepoel’s method, optical and electrical parameters of vacuum evaporated Zn₅₀Se₅₀ thin films

A. B. Alwany^a,b,*, G. M. Youssef^b, M. A. Algradee^a, M. A. Abdel-Rahim^c, A. Alnakhlani^a,d, B. Hassan^a,d

a Physics Department. Faculty of Science, Ibb University. Ibb, Yemen
b Laboratory of Materials Sciences and Solar Cells, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Abbasia, Cairo, Egypt
c Physics Department. Faculty of Science, Assuit University. Assuit, Egypt
d Physics Department, College of Science and Arts, Qassim University, Al-Asyah, Saudi Arabia

* Corresponding Author:

Chalcogenide Letters 2023, 20(1), 19-31. https://doi.org/10.15251/CL.2023.201.19

Received 14 October 2022; Accepted 04 January 2023;

Abstract

Thin films of Zn₅₀Se₅₀ were prepared by the vacuum evaporation technique on glass substrates. The influence of annealing temperature (T_ann.) on the structural and optical properties of ZnSe polycrystalline films was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical transmittance T (λ). The crystalline phases that were found in the Zn₅₀Se₅₀ thin films are ZnSe, Se and Zn. The refractive index (n) and the thickness of the films (d) were calculated using Swanepoel’s method for the films annealed at (423 K). The mechanism of optical absorption follows the rule of direct transition. The values of band gap (E_G) were found to decrease from about 2.933 to 2.635 eV with the increasin of the T_ann. from 300 to 423 K. Urbach energy (E_U) was calculated and found to the increase by increasing T_ann. The dispersion of the n was discussed in terms of the single-oscillator Wemple and DiDomenico model. The Arrhenius formula was used to discuss the electrical conductivity (σ_DC), activation energy (ΔE) and preexponential factor (σ_o).

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