Dielectric and relaxation properties of thermally evaporated nanostructured bismuth sulfide thin films

Nanostructured bismuth sulfide thin films were prepared onto glass substrates with particle size of 21 nm by thermal evaporation using readily prepared bismuth sulfide nanocrystallite powder. The X-ray diffraction pattern revealed that bismuth sulfide thin films exhibit orthorhombic structure. The existence of quantum confinement effect was confirmed from the observed band gap energy of 1.86 eV. AC and DC electrical conductivity of Al/BiSnc/Al structures was investigated in the frequency range 0.5-100 kHz at different temperatures (303-463 K) under vacuum. The AC conductivity (sigma(ac)) is found to be proportional to angular frequency (omega(s)). The obtained experimental result of the AC conductivity showed that the correlated barrier hopping model is the appropriate mechanism for the electron transport in the nanostructured bismuth sulfide thin films. DC conduction mechanism in these films was studied and possible conduction mechanism in the bismuth sulfide thin films was discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.