Chemical bath deposition of Cu3BiS3 thin films

First time, copper bismuth sulfide (Cu3BiS3) thin films were synthesized on the glass substrate using simple, low-cost chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The synthesized parameters such as temperature of bath, pH and concentration of precursors were optimized for the deposition of uniform, well adherent Cu3BiS3 thin films. The optical, surface morphology and structural properties of the Cu3BiS3 thin films were studied using UV-VIS-NIR spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The as- synthesized Cu3BiS3 film exhibits a direct band gap 1.56 to 1.58 eV having absorption coefficient of the order of 105 cm−1. The XRD declares the amorphous nature of the films. SEM images shows films were composed of close-packed fine spherical nanoparticles of 70-80 nm in diameter. The chemical composition of the film was almost stoichiometric. The optical study indicates that the Cu3BiS3 films can be applied as an absorber layer for thin film solar cells.