Swift heavy ion induced structural changes in CdS thin films possessing different microstructures: A comparative study

Abstract

This study is carried out to verify the role of thin film microstructure in determining the energy relaxation processes of swift heavy ions in CdS polycrystalline thin films. Two sets of CdS thin film samples, differing in their microstructures, prepared using thermal evaporation and spray pyrolysis, are irradiated with 100 MeV Ag ions using Pelletron accelerator. It is observed that the effects produced differ significantly in the two films. For the evaporated films, defect annealing dominates for lower irradiation fluences but at higher fluences the effects due to defect creation and their migration are dominant. A transformation from the metastable cubic to hexagonal phase together with the creation of a significant amount of compressive strain is seen in these films for irradiation at the highest fluence. The optical absorption of the samples shows an increase in band gap from 2.34 eV for the as grown film to 2.43 eV for the sample irradiated at the highest fluence that is further confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) studies. In contrast, the spray deposited samples undergo a significant improvement of crystalline quality for all fluences as shown by an increase in x-ray diffraction peak intensity, sharper optical absorption edge, reduction in defect PL intensity, and removal of asymmetry in the line shape of the longitudinal optical phonon on its lower wavenumber side in Raman spectra.

Study of swift heavy ion irradiation effect on indium tin oxide coated electrode for the dye-sensitized solar cell application

“…The RF-sputtered film are more dense and crystalline as compared to that prepared by spray pyrolysis. The role of initial micro-structure of film in deciding the effect of SHI irradiation has recently been reported by Ison et al in CdS thin film [23].…”

Methodical engineering of defects in MnXZn1-X O(x = 0.03, and 0.05) nanostructures by electron beam for nonlinear optical applications: A new insight

“…The peak at 2ϴ ∼34.6 0 is observed to be strongest for all films except for pristine Mn 0.03 Zn 0.97 O which shows at 2ϴ ∼36.60. Crystallite size, D of the films were evaluated using Debye Scherer formula reported elsewhere [22].…”

“…The increase in the optical scattering loss of light from the grain boundaries favours an enhancement of the absorption as evident from figure. The aggregation of the grains in the irradiated films will effect in the formation of large grain boundaries enhancing the optical scattering effects [22]. The red spectral shift observed in the absorption edge of the films results in the shrinkage of band gap.…”

Study of the strength characteristics and radiation resistance of thin-film coatings based on CuX (X=Bi, Mg, Ni)

“…In this connection, research in the field of selection of optimal conditions for thickness, number of layers, and also the study of the effect of phase composition is one of the most promising studies in the field of creating local protection from exposure to ionizing radiation [16,17]. Moreover, today in most microelectronic circuits, massive protection is used based on ceramic dielectric materials with high radiation resistance [18][19][20][21][22][23]. However, the use of dielectric matrices significantly increases the mass of microelectronic devices due to the creation of additional massive cases made of dielectric ceramics.…”