Y. Rodríguez-Lazcano, L. Guerrero, O.Gomezdaza, M. T. S. Nair, and P. K. Nair, Department of Solar Energy Materials, Centro de Investigación en Energía, UNAM, Temixco, Morelos 62580, MEXICO. e-mail: mtsn@mazatl.cie.unam.mx

Deposition of thin films of sulfide and selenide of antimony from chemical baths containing SbCl₃ and source of sulfide or selenide ions in presence of ligands forming soluble complexes with antimony will be presented. Thin films of up to 1 m m thickness are obtainable by multiple depositions. As prepared, the films are of poor crystallinity and show larger band gaps (eg., 2.2 eV in the case of Sb₂S₃) than those reported for the material in bulk, due to quantum confinement arising from the very small crystallites. However, the films after annealing in nitrogen around 300ºC show well defined peaks in their XRD patterns. The annealed films show decrease in band gaps and photosensitivity in the order of 10³ in the case of Sb₂S₃ thin films. The paper will also deal with the formation of new thin film materials through annealing multilayer thin films involving the antimony chalcogenide films. This possibility opens up the fabrication of thin film semiconductors covering a wide range of structural, electrical and optical properties for large area photonic applications.