| While the worldwide energy consumption continues to increase, carbon emissions related to the use of fossil fuels pose an insurmountable challenge to global climate and environment. The combination of these factors calls for the development of efficient means for emission-free energy production. Harvesting energy directly from sunlight using photovoltaic (PV) technology is increasingly being recognized as an essential component of future global energy production.;The main drawback of current PV technology is its relatively high cost compared to other means of electricity generation (conventional fossil fuel or hydro power generation). It is particularly clear that for PV to rapidly evolve into a viable alternative source of energy, significant, not just incremental, breakthroughs in PV technology, especially deposition methods of thin film materials, must be achieved.;Iron pyrite is a semiconducting material with a high potential for use in photovoltaic solar cells, owing to its high absorptivity, appropriate band gap, and high quantum efficiency in addition to its low cost and availability. Iron Pyrite is a by-product of mining activities and it is a serious candidate as an alternative to conventional light-absorbing materials. Pyrite is also the main source of acid mine tailings with serious consequences on the environment. If it can salvaged for useful applications such as PV, two technically important issues would have been resolved.;In this thesis work, iron sulphide, as an alternative to silicon, will be investigated through experimental means. The goal is to attempt to produce iron sulphide in thin film form from synthetic and natural pyrite targets using pulsed electron deposition. Pertinent process parameters will be assessed and their effect on the structure and composition of the films will be analyzed. The deposited films will also be characterized via a variety of analytical techniques to make sure that material quality is met.;The results show that the films prepared via the ablation of a synthetic target on glass substrates consist of iron pyrite in association with other phases, viz., pyrrhotite, iron sulphide hydrate, and troilite. Pyrite content increases with substrate temperature with up to 43% (XPS measurements) of the deposited films consisting of pyrite at 250°C. The average thickness of the films is around 50 nm (Vis. Reflectance) and around 75 nm (SEM data), and exhibit a rugged morphology with nano-particles of 100-200 nm in size.;Thin films prepared through the ablation of a natural pyrite target show no evidence of iron pyrite in the range of substrate temperature, namely, from room temperature to 450°C. The prepared films rather consist of predominately pyrrhotite and sulfur. |
