IN-SITU INVESTIGATION OF ZNS DEPOSITION ON MICA BY SUCCESSIVE IONIC LAYER ADSORPTION AND REACTION METHOD AS STUDIED WITH ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY

The growth of ZnS thin films on a mica substrate in a Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) process has been studied. The f ilms were deposited in-situ using the commercial AFM liquid cell as fl ow-through reactor. Reactants and rinsing water were exchanged in the cell continuously by a computer controlled valve system. In this way t he film growth could be observed directly in a time resolved sequence of images taken after 1 up to 100 cycles. The results show that the st ability of the films increases between 1 and 30 cycles and that a full coverage of the surface is reached after approximately 50 cycles.