R Sahraei - Department of Chemistry, Ilam University
G Motedayen Aval - Physical Chemistry Department
A Baghizadeh - Van de Graaff Laboratory
M Lamehi-Rachti - Van de Graaff Laboratory

In this work the temperature effect on the growth mechanism of ZnS thin films prepared in a chemical bath containing Zinc acetate-ethylenediamine-thioacetamide aqueous solutions has been studied in the temperature range between 25 and 75 ˚C. These ZnS thin films posses a nanocrystalline structure and exhibit quantum size effects due to the small crystal size. This produces a blue shift in the optical spectra. The growth mechanism of the thin films was found to proceed by accumulation of ZnS nanocrystals formed on the substrate according to a cluster-by-cluster mechanism. Using X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy; this blue shift was correlated to a decrease in crystal size.

nanocrystalline ZnS thin films; chemical bath deposition; mechanism of crystal growth