STRUCTURAL AND OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NANOCRYSTALLINE CDS THIN FILMS SYNTHESIZED BY CHEMICAL BATH DEPOSITION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21240197Keywords:
CdS Thin Film, Chemical Bath Deposition, Nanocrystalline Semiconductor, X-ray Diffraction, UV-Vi’s Spectroscopy and Optical Band GapAbstract
Cadmium sulfide (CdS) is a significant II-VI semiconductor material that is utilized in thin film solar cells, optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors, sensors, and other optoelectronic devices. It can be used in CdTe and CIGS photovoltaic devices as a window or buffer layer due to its direct band gap, good response to visible light, and n-type conductivity. One of the most popular techniques for the preparation of CdS thin films is a chemical bath deposition (CBD) as it is low cost, simple, scaleable and low temperature process. A research discussion based on the literature is presented in this paper about the structural and optical characteristics of the nanocrystalline CdS thin films obtained by CBD process. Structural characterization is performed primarily by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS). Typical methods for optical characterisation include UV–visible spectroscopy and the Tauc plot analysis. It is found from published work that the CBD-deposited CdS films have generally been nanocrystalline and polycrystalline in nature, and their crystal structure has been found to be cubic, hexagonal or mixed crystal structure, depending on the deposition time, bath temperature, pH, concentration of the CdS precursors, complexing agents, and the annealing conditions. The optical band gap values typically range within 2.1–2.5 eV, which is close to the visible band, and are often related to the grain size, thickness, strain, defects, and stoichiometry. The review shows that the method of forming CdS thin films using CBD is still a viable and viable method for low-cost PV and OE devices.
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