Effect of cluster size of chalcogenide glass nanocolloidal solutions on the surface morphology of spin-coated amorphous films

TL;DR

This study investigates how the size of clusters in chalcogenide glass solutions influences the surface grain structure of spin-coated amorphous films, revealing a correlation between solution cluster size and film morphology.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of the relationship between solution cluster size and film surface morphology using multiple characterization techniques.

Findings

Cluster size depends on glass concentration in solution.

Athermal photo-aggregation affects cluster formation.

Surface grain size correlates with solution cluster size.

Abstract

Amorphous chalcogenide thin film deposition can be achieved by a spin-coating technique from proper solutions of the corresponding glass. Films produced in this way exhibit certain grain texture, which is presumably related to the cluster size in solution. This paper deals with the search of such a correlation between grain size of surface morphology of as-deposited spin-coated As33S67 chalcogenide thin films and cluster size of the glass in butylamine solutions. Optical absorption spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering were employed to study optical properties and cluster size distributions in the solutions at various glass concentrations. Atomic force microscopy is used to study the surface morphology of the surface of as-deposited and thermally stabilized spin-coated films. Dynamic light scattering revealed a concentration dependence of cluster size in solution. Spectral-dependence dynamic light scattering studies showed an interesting athermal photo-aggregation effect in the liquid state.