Determination of optical and electrical properties of ZnSe thin films

A thin film of zinc selenide (ZnSe) was deposited onto a clean glass substrate using a vacuum evaporation technique. This thin film was characterized through X-ray diffraction, which indicated that the film was polycrystalline in nature. Absorption and transmission spectra of this thin film were recorded using a spectrophotometer. The energy band gap, refractive index and extinction coefficient were determined using these spectra. It was found that the energy band gap of ZnSe film was 2.55 eV. It was also observed that the refractive index and extinction coefficient of the film decreased with the increase of wavelength. The conductivity of this thin film was determined by current–voltage measurement using an electrometer over the temperature range from room temperature to 413 K. It was observed that conductivity increased with increase in temperature. This is explained on the basis of structural changes occurring due to the change in grain size and the increase in carrier density.