Study of structural and optical properties of Cd1-xZnxSe thin films

Abstract Cd 1-x Zn x Se (x = 0, 0.5 and 1) thin films have been deposited onto glass substrates using thermal evaporation technique. The lattice constants, grain size, microstrain and dislocation density were studied by using X-ray diffraction. In addition the optical constants were calculated in the wavelength range 400–2500 nm. Transmittance and reflectance were used to calculate the absorption coefficient α and the optical band gap E g . The linear relation of (αhυ) 2 as a function of photon energy hυ for the thin films illustrated that the films exhibit a direct band gap, which increases with increasing Zn content. This increasing of optical band gap was interpreted in accordance to the increasing in the cohesive energy. Optical constants, such as refractive index n, optical conductivity σ opt , complex dielectric constant, relaxation time τ and dissipation factor tanδ were determined. The optical dispersion parameters E 0 , E d were determined according to Wemple and Di Domenico method.