Surface nanostructuring and physical properties of In2S3 films using argon plasma treatment

Abstract

We report a novel approach to the nanostructuring the In2S3 thin films surface grown by thermal evaporation technique on glass substrates. Our approach is based on using argon inductively coupled plasma sputtering technique with 20-200 eV ion energy. X-ray measurements were performed to confirm the crystallinity and phase composition of the In2S3 films. Morphology and chemical composition of the films were studied using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, respectively. The optical properties were investigated by measuring the optical transmittance and reflection spectra. The formation of indium droplets with sizes 10-300 nm and surface density 8∙108 - 9∙1011 cm-2 on the In2S3 films surface during plasma treatment was described. Keywords: In2S3, Plasma Sputtering, Thin Film, Metallic Droplets, Nanorods.