XPS study of ZnxMg1-xS : Mn ternary compound thin films

The chemical bonding of Zn, Mg, S and Mn atoms in ZnxMg1-xS:Mn thin films h as been studied with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in view to corr elate the variation of electronic state with blue shift of Mn2+ emission in ZnxMg1-xS. We have elucidated the clear dependence of binding energy, E-B of core electron on the composition x for each element as follows: E-B(Zn 2 p(3/2)) = 1022 + 0.6x, E-B(Mg 2p) = 50 + 0.6x, E-B(S 2p(3/2)) = 161 + 0.7x, E-B(Mn 2p(3/2)) = 641 + 1.2x (eV). The origin of the chemical shift of bin ding energies is discussed together with the effect of chemical shift on th e photoluminescence. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.