Abstract

Copper sulphide (CuS) thin films have been deposited on glass substrates by spray pyrolysis method using an aqueous solutions of copper (II) acetate and thiourea with different Cu to S molar ratios (0.33 and 0.43) at various substrate temperatures of 260, 285 and 310 °C. The structural, optical and electrical characterizations have been carried out using XRD, UV–Vis. transmittance/reflectance, PL spectra and Hall effect measurements. These characterizations indicated the formation of a CuS single phase (covellite) with polycrystalline nature with preferred orientation along (1 0 2) plane, except one with amorphous nature. Optical studies showed that the deposited layers have a relatively high absorption coefficient (5 × 10⁴ to 1 × 10⁵ cm⁻¹) in the visible range, with an effective optical band gap of ∼2.4–2.6 eV. The Hall effect data showed that all the grown samples have a degenerate p-type conductivity with a hole concentration of ∼1.8 × 10²⁰ to 1.7 × 10²¹ cm⁻³.