Indium sulfide based metal-semiconductor-metal ultraviolet-visible photodetector

[Display omitted] •The In2S3 thin films were deposited at various thicknesses using co-evaporation.•The stoichiometry of the films was confirmed by XPS and EDS analysis.•The MSM photodetector was fabricated using In2S3 films.•Photo sensitivity, responsivity and detectivity of photodetectors were reported. In recent years, the photodetectors gained much attention due to their wide range of applications in industry, military, space and biological fields. In this work, the metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector was fabricated using In2S3 thin films with Al interdigitated electrodes. The In2S3 thin films were prepared by co-evaporation technique with various thicknesses in the range 130–700 nm at a constant substrate temperature of 350 °C. The structural, morphological, compositional, optical and electrical properties of In2S3 thin films were studied as a function of thickness. The energy band gap of films is found to be in the range 2.53–2.71 eV. I–V characteristics and photo response of photodetectors were recorded under UV and visible light illumination. The parameters of a photodetector such as photo sensitivity, responsivity and detectivity were calculated. The observed photo responsivity increases with increase of film thickness. The photo response of all photodetectors confirmed the stable and reproducible characteristics such as photo sensitivity, responsivity and detectivity.