Structural and optical features of neoteric Ag2BaGeS4 thin films synthesized by a chemical bath deposition process

This research seeks to fabricate neoteric Ag 2 BaGeS 4 sheets at various thicknesses (163, 229, 341, and 438 nm) utilizing chemical bath deposition. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the Ag 2 BaGeS 4 sheets’ surface properties. Additionally, X-ray diffraction results revealed that all neoteric Ag 2 BaGeS 4 films exhibited polycrystalline nature with a tetragonal structure. The optical characteristics of the neoteric Ag 2 BaGeS 4 sheets were investigated using spectrophotometric transmission and reflection measurements. By increasing the layer thickness, the Ag 2 BaGeS 4 sheets’ Urbach energy and absorption coefficient magnitudes have increased. Additionally, the optical band-gap energy decreases from 1.62 to 1.47 eV. Additional effects of layer thickness on the linear optical parameters include increasing the electrical conductivity, refractive index, real and imaginary sections of the dielectric indices, and optical conductivity. On the other hand, the nonlinear optical characteristics of the neoteric Ag 2 BaGeS 4 films increased as the sheet thickness increased from 163 to 438 nm. The semiconductor type of the neoteric Ag 2 BaGeS 4 films was detected by the hot-probe test, which identifies these films as p-type semiconductors.