Investigations of nanocrystalline SnS films' surface morphology modification during inductively coupled argon plasma sputtering

Abstract

In this work the investigations of the morphology, structure and chemical composition of nanocrystalline SnS films grown by hot wall deposition method on glass substrates before and after high-density low-pressure inductively coupled argon plasma sputtering were performed using scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The phenomenon of the surface smoothing for the SnS films with petal-like nanocrystallites during plasma treatment is described and the low sputtering rate for the studied films is discussed.

Annealing and plasma treatment effect on structural, morphological and topographical properties of evaporated β-In2S3 films

“…This is due to the presence of volatile chalcogen and of low melting point metals that enhance the effect of nanostructure formation. Similar processing in pure argon plasma for creation of nano-and microstructured surface of chalcogenide materials such as Cu(In, Ga)Se 2 , SnS, PbSnTe and PbSe were reported in literature [18][19][20][21]. As per literature survey, there is no report available on physical characteristics of In 2 S 3 thin films treated with Ar-plasma.…”

Effect of carrier gas pressure on structural, optical and photovoltaic properties of tin sulphide thin films prepared by nebulizer spray pyrolysis method

“…This type of formation was also observed by Sajeesh [22] for SnS thin films prepared by a chemical spray pyrolysis technique. As shown in figure 3b, SEM characterization of the film deposited at 0.15 Pa pressure revealed petal-shaped particles containing no pores and voids [30]. The film shown in figure 3c was deposited at 0.2 Pa pressure rate and revealed a fine spherical-shaped grains with smooth surface along with larger agglomeration of grains for the films deposited at 0.1 and 1.5 Pa pressure rate.…”

Self-formation of lead telluride nanostructures during argon plasma etching of single-crystal wafers

“…The grown crystals were cut perpendicular to the growth axis in order to obtain disk wafers with the thickness of 3-5 mm, whose surface was polished with diamond paste with chemical polishing finish. Plasma sputtering (dry etching) of the surface of PbTe(Te) disks was performed using a radiofrequency high-density low-pressure inductively coupled plasma (RF ICP) treatment [2][3][4]. Power applied to the inductor of the plasma reactor was 800 W, RF bias power at the substrate was varied in the range of 100-300 W, self-bias negative potential was 85-195 V, argon flow rate was 10 sccm.…”