Materials Science and Engineering B 264 (2021) 114889

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Materials Science & Engineering B

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mseb

Growth of In2S3 nanolayers on F-Mica, SiO2, ZnO, and TiO2 substrates using
chemical vapor deposition
Narinder Kaur, Dipika Sharma, B.R. Mehta *
Thin Film Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this study, 2D layers of β-In2S3 have been synthesized on different substrates such as SiO2, F-Mica, ZnO, and
2D layers TiO2 using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. Different morphologies of In2S3 2D nanoflakes have
β-In2S3 been obtained within the temperature range of 550–850 ◦ C. These nanolayers have been characterized by using
Chemical vapor deposition
FESEM, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The results show well-formed nanodomains of β-In2S3 with a
Optical and photoelectric properties
tetragonal phase on different substrates by CVD technique at an optimized temperature of 750 ◦ C, although the
morphology of the grown layer depending sensitively upon the substrates. The initial results show ohmic current-
voltage characteristics, the fast photoconductive response of In2S3 layers. In2S3 grown on ZnO substrates as a
base layer show enhanced photoelectrochemical properties because of increased visible light absorption, as
indicated by optical absorption results.

1. Introduction and by the formation of distinct morphological structures [11]. Several

2D materials like graphene and transition metal chalcogenides
(TMC’s) [1] have received great consideration on account of their
distinct tunable and layered dependent properties of bandgap, high
mobility, and high conductivity [2]. Different morphological structures
of 2D TMC’s can be synthesized by micromechanical exfoliation, top­
ochemical transfer synthesis, chemical vapor deposition, spray pyroly­
sis, hydrothermal synthesis, and physical vapor deposition techniques
[3]. Each technique, as mentioned above, yields a distinct morphology
such as nanoflowers, hexagons, triangular geometry, and pyramids. Di-
indium trisulphide (In2S3) is a non-layered 2D material [4]. In2S3 exists
in three different crystallographic structures α-In2S3 (defective cubic
stable up to about 420 ◦ C), β-In2S3 (defective spinel stable up to about
754 ◦ C), and γ-In2S3 (layered structure stable above 754 ◦ C) depending
on the formation temperature. β-In2S3 retains either cubic or tetragonal
structure with a high concentration of vacancies on tetrahedral sites. As
per the phase diagram of In2S3, β-In2S3 is stable at room temperature
with stable chemical composition, good conductivity [5], and interme­
diate band gaps due to misvalency between sulfur and indium atoms [6].
In2S3 is investigated as an important candidate for optoelectronic [1],
photovoltaic [7], and many other applications due to high stability [8],
tunable bandgap [9], and photocatalytic behavior [10]. The bandgap of
In2S3 (1.9–2.3 eV) tune by controlling its thickness, number of layers,
research reports are available in which different architecture of In2S3,
such as 3D flower-like structure [12], nanosheets [13], hollow nano­
sphere [14], urchin-like nanostructure [15], and nanoflakes structure
[16]. These morphologies are synthesized using different techniques
such as physical vapor deposition (PVD) [17], atomic layer deposition
[18], chemical vapor deposition [1], spins coating [19], spray pyrolysis,
solvothermal and hydrothermal method. Diehl et al. synthesized α, β,
and γ form of In2S3 with suitable stoichiometry composition at a growth
temperature of 750 ◦ C with 4 atm sulfur pressure and iodine as transport
agent [20]. Similarly, Shalzy et al.; prepared stoichiometric In2S3 by
thermal evaporation technique, and its crystallinity was reported to be
sustained up to 423 K. Nanoflowers of In2S3 interconnected with
nanoparticles were also synthesized by hydrothermal technique and
used for high performance of Lithium-ion batteries [21]. W. Huang and
et al. reported that 2D In2S3 has been grown by chemical vapor depo­
sition (CVD) method [1] and exhibits large size triangular geometry
monoflakes on F-mica substrate. These monoflakes were integrated into
a photodetector, showing excellent photoresponse properties from
visible to near-infrared (NIR) region. It is important to note that in all the
above-mentioned studies, the growth has been carried out only on SiO2
or Mica substrates, as described in Table 1. There is a significant limi­
tation for the study and application of In2S3 for functional applications
based on 2D-2D or 2D-3D interface or junction devices, which requires it

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: brmehta@physics.iitd.ac.in (B.R. Mehta).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mseb.2020.114889
Received 18 May 2020; Received in revised form 15 September 2020; Accepted 13 October 2020
Available online 13 November 2020
0921-5107/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
N. Kaur et al. Materials Science & Engineering B 264 (2021) 114889

to be deposited on semiconductor layers other than Mica and SiO2. In the
present study, different morphological architectures of β-In2S3 flakes
have been synthesized using only chemical vapor deposition technique
on different substrates such as SiO2, F-Mica, ZnO, and TiO2, and depo­
sition parameters have been optimized. Microstructural, phase analysis,
and morphological analysis of the β-In2S3 nanoflakes samples have been
done using Raman, X-ray diffraction, and FESEM. Preliminary in­
vestigations of photo-conducting and photoelectrochemical properties
of In2S3 layers have been done to assess their quality and potential
usefulness for functional applications.
2. Experimental section
Chemical vapor deposition is the process by which 2D films of
different materials are grown from the vapor phase, by the deterioration
of initial precursors on the surface of the substrate under non-
equilibrium conditions. The growth of 2D material thin films using
chemical vapor deposition technique includes the following steps: 1) A
pre-specified volume of inert gas inaugurated at a particular flow rate in
the reaction assembly 2) Gas species transport and accommodate on the
surface of the substrate 3) Chemical reaction of reactants to form a 2D
material thin film on the surface of the substrate 4) The gaseous by-
products of the chemical reactions are detached and evicted from the
reaction assembly.
2.1. Synthesis of β-In2S3 using CVD on different substrates:
In the present study, the growth of β-In2S3 using the CVD technique
has been carried out following these steps: Firstly, Ar gas as inert gas is
introduced in the single zone furnace at an optimized flow rate. Sub­
strates like SiO2, F-Mica, and ZnO, TiO2 layers deposited on SiO2 sub­
strate (size 1 cm × 1 cm) are placed on silica boat and positioned
downstream at about 10–12 cm away from the center of single zone
furnace. Prior to heating, the whole system was purged by Ar gas for half
an hour. The furnace was heated in temperature range 550–850 ◦ C at the
rate of 10 ◦ C/min with the flow of Ar gas at 50 sccm for growth time of
15 min. The temperature of sulfur was maintained near to its melting
point of 150 ◦ C. After the chemical reaction, the furnace was cooled
immediately at room temperature with a cooling rate of 25 ◦ C/min.
2.2. Characterization techniques
Raman analysis of In2S3 morphologies was investigated using a
Renishaw invia confocal Raman microscope with a 514 nm laser
wavelength and 1800/2400 lines per mm grating. A holographic
diffraction grating with confocality control is used in the diffraction
system with a high-sensitivity ultralow noise CCD camera. Sample
damage was controlled by using a laser power of < 1 mW. X-ray
diffraction patterns of distinct morphologies of In2S3 were measured in
the 2θ range of 20◦ -60◦ with glancing angle 1◦ (Configuration = IR Stage
(PhiPsi X YZ)) using Philip’s X’Pert PRO-PW vertical system operating in
reflection mode employing Cu-Kα radiation (λ = 1.5418 Å). Morpho­
logical analysis of In2S3 nanoflakes was carried out using FESEM Jeol
make, JSM-7800F prime with operating voltage = 10 kV without Au
coating on SiO2 and F-Mica substrate. Absorption spectra were
measured using a UV–visible spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer Lambda
35). Macroscopic I–V and I-t measurements on In2S3 nanoflakes were
carried out by depositing Au/Ni contacts by using the thermal evapo­
ration in a two-electrode planar configuration. Keithley 2400 source
meter and Oriel cornerstone 260 monochromator with a Xenon lamp
was used for the photoresponse measurements. Spectral response for
measuring current in light and dark conditions with usual control
through a program developed in Labview with GPIB control. For the
photoelectrochemical properties investigation, In2S3 flakes deposited on
the ITO substrate to be used as working electrodes. Linear sweep vol­
tammogram (LSV) characteristics were recorded in dark and light con­
ditions at a scan rate of 20 mV/s in aqueous 0.5 M Na2SO4.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Growth of β-In2S3 on SiO2 and Mica substrates
Fig. 1 (a-f) shows the field emission scanning electron microscopy
(FESEM) images of In2S3 on two different substrates SiO2 and F-Mica.
FESEM images of In2S3 show the triangular geometries on both SiO2 and
F-Mica substrates in the temperature range of 550–850 ◦ C. Microscopy
shows that well-defined triangular morphology is obtained at a growth
temperature of 750 ◦ C for both SiO2 and F-Mica substrates. The size of
the triangular flakes obtained on the SiO2 substrate is about ~300 nm,
while on F-mica substrates, it is ~500 nm at 750 ◦ C growth temperature.
Yu Zhao and et al. reported similar results in terms of flake size and
growth temperature [9]. Furthermore, analysis for the crystal structure
and the phase purity of In2S3 has been carried out using Raman spec­
troscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques, and results are as shown in
Fig. 1 (g-h).
Raman spectra for the sample prepared at the growth temperature of
750 ◦ C on SiO2 and F-Mica substrate shows the characteristic peaks for
Eg mode at 114, 135, 306, 326 cm− 1, Bg mode at 162, 245, 369 cm− 1 and
Ag mode at 180, 268, 368 cm− 1 indicating the growth of pure tetragonal
β-In2S3 phase. It is noticed that at different temperatures, 550 ◦ C, 750 ◦ C,
and 850 ◦ C, and for 15 min growth time, phase pure tetragonal β-In2S3
was obtained at 750 ◦ C growth temperature in case of both the

Table 1
A summaries of reported results on the growth In2S3 along with the results of the present study.
Substrate Temperat ure Ar Gas Pressure Precursors Shape Size (nm) Process of growth Time References
(◦ C) (seem) (min)

F-Mica 700 60 InPS Triangular Microns CVD 5 W.Hauang et.al

FTO 200 InC13.4H20 / ethylene Vertical aligned 430 nm with Hydro- thermal 120 Li.Ming et.al
Glass glycol nanosheets 290 nm
thickness
Mica 960 25 In2S3 powder Flakes Microns PVD 5–10 Y.Zhao et.al
FTO glass 200 InC13.4H20 / Nanosheets 603 Hydro- thermal 120 Li.Ming et.al
Thioacetamide
Glass 200–350 — Indium rod/ Sulphur Thin film with large <100 Thermal evaporation B. Hemanth
powder grains technique Kumar et.al
SiO2 550–850 50–100 InPS Triangles 300 CVD 5–15 Present Work
F-Mica 550–850 50–100 InI/S Triangular 500 CVD 5–15 Present Work
ZnO/Si02 550 50–100 InI/S Triangular 900 CVD 15 Present Work
750 Nanoflakes
850 Hexagons
Ti02/Si02 550 50–100 InI/S — CVD 15 Present Work
750 Spherical 300
850 Nanoflakes <50 nm

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N. Kaur et al.
Fig. 1. (a-f) FESEM images of In2S3 on SiO2 substrate and F-Mica substrate, (g-h) Raman spectra of In2S3 on SiO2 and F-Mica with a different temperature range from
550 to 850 ◦ C, (i) XRD patterns of In2S3 at 750 ◦ C growth temperature for SiO2 and F-Mica substrates.
substrates. At 550 ◦ C and 850 ◦ C growth temperature, the α-In2S3 phase
and cubic phase of β-In2S3 were formed, respectively, for SiO2 substrate.
In the case of the F-Mica substrate at 550 ◦ C temperatures, only one peak
was observed at 260 cm− 1, which corresponds to sulfur only and show
inadequate growth, and at 850 ◦ C growth temperature cubic phase of
β-In2S3 formed. XRD pattern of In2S3 grown at 750 ◦ C temperature on
SiO2 and F-Mica substrates indicated the growth of the tetragonal phase
of β-In2S3, as indicated by the highest intensity peak at 27.52◦ with hkl
value of (1 1 3). Other high-intensity peaks at 23.52◦ , 28.78◦ , 33.35◦ ,
43.74◦ , 47.76◦ , 50.38◦ ,56.31◦ ,59.67◦ , and 66.86◦ corresponding to hkl
values (0 0 2), (2 2 2), (0 0 4), (2 2 4), (3 3 3), (0 4 4), (1 3 5), (3 3 5) and
(2 2 6) planes, respectively (JCPDS card no. 51–1159) [9] were also
observed.
In2S3 layers were synthesized for different growth time, i.e., 5 min,
10 min, and 15 min on both SiO2 and F-Mica substrates at the growth
temperature of 750 ◦ C. Fig. 2 (a-c) and Fig. 2 (d-f) show FESEM images
of In2S3 on SiO2 and F-Mica substrates for growth time varying from 5 to
15 min, respectively. The triangular geometry was observed for 10 min
growth time, and on further increment in growth time, aggregation [9]
of the triangular domains was observed. The triangular geometry of
nanoflakes with uniform distribution is formed due to diffusion-based
and reaction limited processes [1]. On SiO2 substrate at 750 ◦ C
growth temperature and 10 min growth time, consistent triangular ge­
ometry with an average domain size of 300 nm has been observed
without any aggregation. For the F-Mica substrate, the size of nanoflakes
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Materials Science & Engineering B 264 (2021) 114889
is detected to be ~800 nm at a growth time of 15 min and a growth
temperature of 750 ◦ C.
Raman spectra for samples grown at 750 ◦ C for 5 to 15 min are used
to have information about the growth of the number of layers. It is
shown in Fig. 3 (a & b) that as the growth time increases 5 to 15 min
thickness of In2S3 nanoflakes increases. Raman spectra show that for
lower thickness Raman modes Eg and Bg at 135 cm− 1 and 162 cm− 1 are
absent while on increasing thickness up to 50 nm, they appear in the
Raman spectra. It has also been observed that Raman peak position was
independent of layer thickness, which indicates that the Van der Waals
forces between layers were unruffled [22]. Raman results show that as
the thickness decreases, the intensity and sharpness of Raman peaks go
on reducing [23] (see Fig. 3 (a & b)). Similar results were reported by Yu
Zhao and et al. [9] for the thickness-dependent growth of 2D β-In2S3
nanoflakes by the PLD technique. XRD analysis for different layers
shown in Fig. 3 (c) confirmed the formation of the tetragonal phase of
β-In2S3 at 27.52◦ with hkl value along (1 1 3) direction and with high-
intensity peaks at 23.52◦ , 28.78◦ , 33.35◦ , 43.74◦ , 47.76◦ , 50.38◦ ,
56.31◦ , 59.67◦ , and 66.86◦ corresponding to hkl values (0 0 2), (2 2 2),
(0 0 4), (2 2 4), (3 3 3), (0 4 4), (1 3 5), (3 3 5) and (2 2 6) planes. Fig. 3 (d-f)
represents cross-sectional FESEM images of In2S3 nanoflakes grown on
SiO2 substrate for 5 to 15 min at 750 ◦ C. It is observed that with an
increase of deposition time average thickness of nanoflakes increases
from ~10 to ~50 nm. These results are consistent with the Raman
results.
N. Kaur et al. Materials Science & Engineering B 264 (2021) 114889

Fig. 2. FESEM images of In2S3 grown on (a-c) SiO2 and (d-f) F-Mica substrate at an optimum temperature of 750 ◦ C for different deposition time.

Fig. 3. Raman spectra of the respective samples on (a) SiO2 and (b) F-Mica substrate (c) XRD spectra of In2S3 flakes for time range 5–15 min. (e-g) Cross-sectional
FESEM images for nanoflakes of In2S3 on SiO2 for 5 to 15 min.

3.2. Synthesis of In2S3 on ZnO and TiO2 thin films
ZnO and TiO2 both are metal oxides with broad bandgap value in the
range 3.2–3.5 eV, high electron mobility, and strong room-temperature
luminescence [24-27]. As already mentioned, the ability of 2D materials
for device applications require the deposition onto functional 3D or 2D
materials for preparing heterojunctions. With this objective, In2S3 was
deposited on the ZnO and TiO2 layers in the temperature range of
550–850 ◦ C for 15 min growth time. It may be noted that ZnO and TiO2
layers were pre-deposited on SiO2 substrates by RF sputtering technique
[2]. Fig. 4 (a-f) shows the FESEM images of In2S3 on ZnO/SiO2 and TiO2/
SiO2 substrate with a different growth temperature of 550–850 ◦ C. Fig. 4
(g-h) displays the XRD spectra of In2S3 grown on ZnO and TiO2,
respectively.
It is observed that distinct architectures were formed on ZnO and
TiO2 base layers with variation in growth temperature. On the ZnO base

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N. Kaur et al.
Fig. 4. Growth of In2S3 on ZnO and TiO2, (a-f) represents FESEM images of In2S3 grown on ZnO and TiO2 at different deposition temperature, (g-h) XRD patterns of
In2S3 grown on ZnO and TiO2 at 750 ◦ C temperature respectively, and (i) XRD pattern of In2S3 formed on ZnO for temperature range 550–850 ◦ C.
layer, triangular geometry (at 550 ◦ C), nanoflakes with random distri­
bution (at 750 ◦ C), and hexagonal grains with a size of about 900 nm (at
850 ◦ C) were obtained. XRD patterns for pristine ZnO and In2S3 grown
on ZnO are shown in Fig. 4(g), which indicates the presence of high-
intensity peak corresponding to (0 0 2) plane at 30.67◦ . Lower in­
tensity peaks at 40.48◦ and 52.02◦ corresponds to (1 0 1) and (1 0 2)
plane corresponding to the ZnO Wurtzite structure and peaks at 27.57◦
corresponding to (1 1 3) plane for In2S3 and some lower intensity peaks
at 33.35◦ and 47.76◦ corresponding to (0 0 4) and (3 3 3) planes which
indicate the presence of tetragonal phase of In2S3.
Fig. 4(d-f) shows the FESEM images for In2S3 deposited on TiO2 base
layers in the temperature range of 550–850 ◦ C. It has been observed that
850 ◦ C growth temperatures, the growth of In2S3 flakes were observed. It
seems that in this case, the development of In2S3 is not observed at a
lower temperature. Fig. 4 (h) shows phase analysis of pristine TiO2 and
In2S3 deposited on TiO2, which indicates the formation of the anatase
phase of TiO2 with a high-intensity peak at 25.45◦ , which corresponds to
(1 1 0) plane and low-intense peaks at 48.04◦ and 55.36◦ correspond to
(2 1 0) and (2 1 1) planes. Peaks have shown the tetragonal phase of
β-In2S3 at 23.52◦ , 27.52◦ , 28.78◦ , 33.35◦ , 43.74◦ , 47.76◦ , 50.38◦ ,
56.31◦ , 59.67◦ , and 66.86o, corresponding to planes (0 0 2), (1 1 3),
(2 2 2), (0 0 4), (2 2 4), (3 3 3), (0 4 4), (1 3 5), (3 3 5) and (2 2 6)
respectively.
The above results show that the substrate plays a significant role
during the growth of In2S3 layers. Well defined layers having tetragonal
phase are observed at 750 ◦ C growth temperature and growth time 15
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Materials Science & Engineering B 264 (2021) 114889
min for SiO2, F-Mica substrates with triangular geometry. The tetragonal
β-In2S3 nanolayers grown on SiO2 substrate with ZnO as a base layer are
shown in Fig. 4(i). Within the temperature range, 550–850 ◦ C for 15 min
growth time, hexagons and nanoflakes are formed. In contrast, for TiO2,
not much growth is observed in the low-temperature range. Depending
on the morphology of the substrate, CVD growth is affected, and surface
morphology of the layers is affected accordingly. On account of week
Van der Waals interactions between substrates and the overlayers,
distinct morphologies have been formed [28]. Surfaces of SiO2 and Mica
are smooth and chemically inert with no dangling bonds on their sur­
faces. So, the migration energy of adatoms is minimal and responsible
for the lateral growth of nonlayered material. At the same time, in the
case of metal oxides, ZnO, and TiO2, rough surface structure leads to
higher growth density in comparison to nucleation density, so nano­
flakes are formed on their surfaces [29]. Also, it is seen that dangling
bonds present on the surface of 2D materials leads to high compatibility
with traditional 3D materials like ZnO and TiO2.
Optical properties for 2D nanoflakes of In2S3 have been shown in
terms of UV–Vis absorption spectra within the wavelength range of
320–800 nm, which includes light absorption ability for ZnO and TiO2 in
the UV range 300–400 nm while for In2S3 in the visible range 500–700
nm.
Fig. 5 shows the absorption spectra for In2S3 deposited on ZnO and
TiO2 layers. Absorption spectra take place simultaneously in both the
materials, which remarkably enhancing the light absorption ability to­
wards the visible region. [30]. These results are similar to those reported
N. Kaur et al. Materials Science & Engineering B 264 (2021) 114889

may have various applications.

4. Optical and photoelectric properties

Due to sizeable areal distribution and surface to volume ratio in nano

triangular geometry for 2D β-In2S3 flakes has shown excellent opto­
electronic properties on SiO2 and F-Mica substrates [28]. The electrical
contact of Au/Ni thin film having 50 nm/20 nm thicknesses has been
made using the thermal evaporation technique to study the optoelec­
tronic properties of In2S3 on SiO2 and F-Mica [34].
Fig. 7 (a & d) show the variation of photocurrent with voltage for
In2S3 nanolayers on distinct substrates, with a photocurrent value of
0.013 mA and 0.031 μA on F-Mica and SiO2 substrate, respectively.
Photocurrent variation with the voltage of In2S3 showed ohmic
behavior. Fig. 7 (b-c & e-f) represent photocurrent curves with time,
show fast photoresponse with ~4 ms rise time, and ~6 ms decay time on
F-Mica substrate and 9 ms rise time and 11 ms decay time on SiO2
substrate. The obtained ohmic photoresponse behavior for In2S3 nano­
flakes deposited on SiO2 and F-Mica are consistent with the results re­
ported by H. Wenjuan et al. for ultrathin 2D β-In2S3 deposited by
chemical vapor deposition [1].
Fig. 5. Absorption spectra for In2S3 nanolayers grown on ZnO and
Fig. 8 shows primarily a study on the photoelectrochemical response
TiO2 substrates.
of ZnO and 2D In2S3 deposited on ZnO at growth temperature 750 ◦ C.
The obtained photocurrent density value is 1.1 mA/cm2 for ZnO thin
by Ming et al. for In2S3 quantum dots deposited on ZnO nanorods for
film and 4.1 mA/cm2 for In2S3 2D nanoflakes deposited on ZnO.
different reaction times [12].
This enhancement may be due to increased visible light absorption
To further study the growth of In2S3 layers, the areal density of In2S3
due to In2S3, as demonstrated by optical absorption results. The above
layers was studied. Areal density is defined as the number of 2D do­
results indicate the possibility of using these layers and heterojunction of
mains/geometries, such as triangles and nanoflakes, formed per unit
In2S3 with ZnO or TiO2 for potential applications.
area. Areal Density distribution in terms of growth temperature and
growth time on SiO2 and F-Mica substrate has been shown in Fig. 6(a-b).
5. Conclusions
It was observed that areal density was highest at growth temperature
750 ◦ C and for 10 min growth time for both SiO2 and F-Mica substrates.
In the present study, distinct geometries of β-In2S3 like triangles,
Fig. 6(c) shows that areal density distribution variation with growth
nanoflakes, and hexagons have been observed on specific substrates
temperature range 550–850 ◦ C for ZnO and TiO2 thin layer used as
such as SiO2, F-Mica, ZnO, and TiO2 in a single-zone micro reactor CVD
substrates for the growth of In2S3 2D nanoflakes. It may be noted that for
system in the temperature range 550–850 ◦ C and growth time 5–15 min.
ZnO and TiO2 layers, it was not feasible to count the number 2D domains
Raman spectroscopy measurements have shown that the intensity of
due to the topography of the underlying layers, so results have been
Raman mode Ag, Bg, and Eg was influenced by layers thickness. The
shown for upper lying layers for both ZnO and TiO2 substrates.
results show that the tetragonal phase of β-In2S3 can be deposited on all
In comparison to the report by Hauang et al., The present study
the substrates, as mentioned above. However, the substrate conditions
demonstrates that the CVD method can be used for the growth of In2S3
influence the growth in terms of microscopy and phase formation.
layers on different substrates.
Ohmic current–voltage characteristics and temporal behavior of
In earlier studies, only F-Mica, glass, or FTO glass substrates were
tetragonal β-In2S3 on SiO2 and F-Mica substrate show fast photoresponse
used in thermal evaporation [31], hydrothermal synthesis [32], and
with ~2 ms response time. Preliminary results show that the growth of
PVD technique [33]. It has been shown that specific strategies can grow
In2S3 onto ZnO layers can potentially enhance the photoelectrochemical
some particular architecture, but in present work, 2D In2S3 with
properties of ZnO due to increased absorption in In2S3, as demonstrated
different architectures on different substrates has been obtained with a
by optical absorption studies.
single CVD technique. The results of the present study indicate that the
substrate plays a vital role in the growth of In2S3 nanolayers with
particular phase and deposition parameters. These different geometries

Fig. 6. Areal distribution variation (a), (b) &(c) areal density variation with growth temperature 550–850 ◦ C and growth time 5–15 min on SiO2, F-Mica substrate,
ZnO, and TiO2 base layer as substrates.

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N. Kaur et al.
Fig. 7. (a-c) and (d-f) show Photocurrent variation with voltage and time for In2S3 deposited on F-Mica and SiO2 substrate, respectively.
Fig. 8. Photocurrent density variation with the voltage for pristine ZnO and
In2S3 flakes deposited on ZnO as a base layer.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the
Indian Institute of Technology IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India, for giving
institute fellowship. The authors would like to acknowledge NRF and
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Materials Science & Engineering B 264 (2021) 114889
CRF research facility at IIT Delhi for Raman, XRD, UV-Vis, and FESEM
measurements to be done.
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