Photoconductive Antimony Sulfide-Selenide Thin Films Produced by Heating a Chemically Deposited Se–Sb[sub 2]S[sub 3] Layer

Photoconductive thin films of antimony sulfide-selenide have been obtained by heating thin films of , deposited sequentially by the chemical bath method. Heating these layers in nitrogen results in films of a composite of , , and for temperatures up to and in a complete solid solution of near . Heating the layer at for also leads to the formation of the solid solution. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies have indicated the presence of the compounds and the solid solution in the respective films. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses indicate loss of sulfur and selenium from the films, up to 25 and 45%, respectively, during the formation of the solid solution. For the solid solution formed at , is estimated to be 1.5 (XRF)-1.8 (XRD). The composite film formed at shows three distinctive bandgaps corresponding to , , and , while the solid solution formed at shows a bandgap of and an absorption coefficient in the visible region. The dark conductivity of the films is , and the photoconductivity ( , tungsten-halogen) is 50–80 times higher in each case.