Effects of Deposition Period on the Properties of FeS2 Thin Films by Chemical Bath Deposition Method

Abstract

Iron sulfide thin films were deposited onto microscope glass substrates by chemical bath deposition technique from aqueous solutions containing iron nitrate and sodium thiosulfate. The effects of deposition time toward the properties of the thin films were investigated. The deposited thin films were characterized with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that the films have orthorhombic structure with better crystalline phase for the films deposited for 90 min. According to SEM micrographs, the sizes of the grains were noticed to increase as the deposition time was increased to 90 min. The values of band gap energy, calculated from the absorption spectra, decreased from 2.65 to 1.85 eV as the deposition time was increased from 30 to 90 min. Therefore, deposition for 90 min was suitable to produce good quality FeS2 thin films.