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Preparation Of Powder Precursors And Evaporation Of Photoconductive Indium Sulfide Films, Chris Barber, Robert Engelken, Brandon Kemp, Wasim Aleem, Imran Khan, Chris Edrington, Michael Buck, Clayton Workman, Anup Thapa, Tom Jakobs

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We have demonstrated significant photoconductance in indium sulfide thin films prepared by thermal vacuum evaporation ofIn2$3 powders synthesized in-house by chemical precipitation ofInCl3 or In(CH3COO)3, and (NH4)2S or Na2S. The Delta G lambda/Gdark values have been as high as 0.1 in the initial unoptimized films. Excess sulfur (via a mixture of polysulfide and sulfide ions in the synthesis bath) appears to be important in achieving reproducible and large photoconductivities. In2S3 is particularly attractive as a lower toxicity alternative to CdS in optoelectronic applications such as photovoltaic and photoconductive cells.