Chemical vapour deposition of chromium-doped tungsten disulphide thin films on glass and steel substrates from molecular precursors

Abstract

Polycrystalline thin films of chromium doped tungsten disulphide (WS₂) have been deposited onto glass and steel substrates by Aerosol-Assisted Chemical Vapour Deposition (AACVD) using bis(diethyldithiocarbamato)disulfidothioxo tungsten(VI) (WS₃L₂) and tris(diethyldithiocarbamato) chromium(III) [Cr(S₂CNEt₂)₃] (CrL₃) complexes as precursors in different molar ratios at 450 °C. The deposited films were characterised by p-XRD, SEM, and EDX and Raman spectroscopies. Chromium doping of up to 15 mol% was achieved in WS₂ thin films.