• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.199-204
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• 2000

In this study, the ZnS nanosized thin films that could be used for fabrication of blue light-emitting diodes, electro-optic modulators, and n-window layers of solar cells were grown by the solution growth technique (SGT), and their structural and optical properties were examined. Based on these results, the quantum size effects of ZnS were systematically investigated. Governing factors related to the growth condition were the concentration of precursor solution, growth temperature, concentration of aq. ammonia, and growth duration. X-ray diffraction patterns showed that the ZnS thin film obtained in this study had the cubic structure ($\beta$-ZnS). When the growth temperature was $75^{\circ}C$, the surface morphology and the grain size uniformity were the best. The energy band gaps of samples were determined from the optical transmittance valued, and were shown to vary from 3.69 eV to 3.91 eV. These values were substantially higher than 3.65 eV of bulk ZnS, demonstrating that the quantum size effect of SGT grown ZnS is remarkable. Photoluminescence (PL) peaks were observed at the positions corresponding to the lower energy than that to energy band gap, illustrating that the surface states were induced by the ultra-fineness of grains in ZnS films. Particularly, for the first time, it is reported for the SGT grown ZnS that the PL peaks were shifted depending on the grain size.