Studies on deposition of antimony triselenide thin films by chemical method: SILAR

Thin films of Sb2Se3 have been deposited using a simple and less investigated chemical method namely, successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR). The preparative parameters such as concentration, number of immersions, immersion time etc. are optimized to get good quality and well adherent Sb2Se3 thin films. The films are characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical absorption and electrical measurements. XRD study shows that films al-e of Sb2Se3 with orthorhombic crystal structure. SEM and AFM images show that films are nanocrystalline. The optical bandgap is estimated to be 1.8 eV. The room temperature dark electrical resistivity is of the order of 10(5) Omega cm.