Novel Covellite CuS Single-Crystal Thin Films for Optoelectronic Applications

Copper sulfide (CuS) thin films have been used in many applications such as solar cells, photo-thermal, electro-conductive, and microwave shielding. In this work, copper sulfide thin films were deposited on glass and silicon substrates by thermal evaporation of in situ synthesized CuS powder. XRD analysis of these films revealed a single-crystal structure, AFM measurements indicated the films have a surface roughness (14.1 nm) and agglomerates of multiple monocrystalline particles with average size (66 nm), and the optical properties were investigated by UV-Vis spectrophotometer showing the films have high transmission (>80%) in the visible region and low absorbance with wide energy gap (3.813 eV). This novel structure with outstanding optical properties makes it very promising optical materials in optoelectronics.