Effects of thermal annealing on the properties of N-implanted ZnS films

N-ion-implantation to a fluence of 1× 10¹⁵ ions/cm² was performed on ZnS thin films deposited on glass substrates by using the vacuum evaporation method. The films were annealed in flowing nitrogen at 400 ℃-500 ℃ after N-ion-implantation to repair the ion-beam-induced structural destruction and electrically activate the dopants. Effects of ion-implantation and post-thermal annealing on ZnS films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), optical transmittance, and electrical measurements. Results showed that the diffraction peaks and PL intensities were decreased by N-ion-implantation, but fully recovered by further annealing at 500 ℃. In this experiment, all films exhibited high resistivity due to the partial dopant activation under 500 ℃.