XRD Raman analysis and optical properties of CuS nanostructured film

Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods were applied to determine the phase composition and crystal quality of CuS nanostructured film grown by spray pyrolysis. The film has polycrystalline structure with preferential growth along the (101) plane. The grain size for the film was found to be lower than 20 nm. The very sharp Raman peak around 470 cm(-1) in the high frequency region was identified as the S-S stretching mode of S-2 ions at the 4e sites. Other Raman peaks were around 266 cm(-1), 118 cm(-1) and 68 cm(-1) in the low frequency region due to CuS phase. Particles of nanometric size show low wavenumber vibrational modes that can be observed by Raman spectroscopy. Optical properties were obtained from UV-vis absorption, transmittance and reflectance spectra of the nanostructured CuS film. The optical constants of the film such as refractive index, extinction coefficient and, optical conductivity were investigated. The film was found to be p-type by using hot probe method. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.