Document Type : Regular Article

Authors

• Mostafa M. Ibrahim
• Mustafa A. Hassan
• Khaleel I. Hassoon

Department of Applied Sciences, University of Technology – Iraq

Abstract

In this work, the physical properties of iron sulfide (FeS₂) thin films deposited by the chemical spray-pyrolysis (CSP) technique were studied.  The thin films are deposited on glass substrates at 200^oC, using FeCl₃ salt with thiourea (NH₂)₂CS as precursors. Structural analysis of X-Ray diffraction manifested that the thin films contain two phases: Marcasite and Pyrite in planes (110), (111) at angles 2θ =26.3°, 2θ =28.3° respectively. Optical properties analysis showed that the prepared iron sulfide thin-films were highly absorbing in the UV-Visible range and the absorption coefficient was in the range of 1.6x10⁵ cm-1 with a relatively low resistivity of about 0.49 (Ω.cm). The calculated activation energy (Ea) was 0.024 eV and the bandgap value was 2.45 eV. Moreover, the FeS2 thin films were also deposited on (CdO) to fabricate a heterojunction photocell. In conclusion, there is the feasibility of preparing low-cost and highly absorbing iron sulfide (FeS₂) thin films for optoelectronic applications with acceptable homogeneity using the spray-pyrolysis technique.

Keywords

• Spray pyrolysis
• FeS2
• CdO

Main Subjects

• Materials Science