Structural, optical and electrical properties of thermally evaporated Ag2S thin films

Thin films of Ag2S are prepared on glass and quartz substrates by a thermal evaporation method. The structural studies show that the films are well crystallized with an acanthite structure. The optical properties of the films are investigated using spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance and reflectance at normal incidence in the wavelength range 500-2200 nm. The refractive index, n, and the absorption index, k, of Ag2S are determined from the absolute values of the measured transmittance and reflectance. The dispersion of refractive index in Ag2S is analyzed using the concept of the single oscillator. Within this concept the oscillator energy, E-0, and the dispersion energy, E-d, can be determined as 5 and 32.5eV, respectively. It is interesting to note that Ag2S appears to fall into the ionic class. The values of the lattice dielectric constant and the ratio of the carrier concentration to the effective mass are also determined as 7.77 and 1.7 x 10(47) kg(-1) m(-3), respectively. The analysis of the spectral behavior of the absorption coefficient in the intrinsic absorption region reveals an indirect allowed transition with a band gap of 0.96eV and associated phonons of 0.05 eV. Measurements of the dark electrical resistivity is studied as a function of film thickness and temperature. The dark electrical resistivity decreases with increasing film thickness. Graphical representation of log p as a function of reciprocal temperature yields two distinct linear parts indicating the existence of two activation energies DeltaE(1) and DeltaE(2) as 0.18 and 0.28eV respectively. Discussion on the obtained results and their comparison with the previous published data is also given. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.