Characteristics of radio frequency-sputtered ZnS on the flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin film was deposited on the flexible polyethylene-terephtalate (PET) polymer substrate by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system. ZnS film has a critical thickness range affecting crystal structure where it shows preferred orientation with intensity peak of X-ray diffractometer at 28.4 degrees for ZnS thinner than 200 nm while hexagonal wurtzite and cubic zinc-blend (101) are co-existed for film thicker than 200 nm. Optical band gap energy (Eg) decreases with increasing RF-powers, resulting from increase in film thickness. Eg of ZnS films on PET is 3.68-3.86 eV, which is lower than that of ZnS on the rigid substrate by 0.27-0.28 eV. This is attributed to amount of incorporated oxygen to ZnS material as well as residual strain and disorder of grain boundary. Transmittance of ZnS on PET degrades due to surface defects and complex internal structure. Energy dispersive spectroscopy reveals out that ZnS film does not have a unity of Zn to S ratio, but it is close to stoichiometric composition with increasing thickness.