Structural and optical characterization of sprayed Mg and Ni co-doped CdS thin films for photovoltaic applications

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering 2020-11, Vol.948 (1), p.12019
• Main Authors: Garmim, T, Soussi, L, Louardi, A, Monkade, M, Khaidar, M, Zradba, A, Erguig, H, Bouabdali, E, Mghaioiuini, R, Elmlouky, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: (Ni-Mg) co-doping; CdS; Crystallites; Doping; Glass substrates; Optical properties; Spray pyrolysis; Structural analysis; Structural properties; Surface structure; Thin films
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/948/1/012019

In the present work, Mg and Ni co-doped CdS thin films are grown on glass substrates at a temperature of 400 °C through spray pyrolysis. The influence of Mg-doping on structural, morphological and optical properties of CdS:Ni thin films are examined. Mg level is changed from 0 % to 7 % for CdS: Ni samples just as Ni concentration is fixed 2 % for all CdS thin films. It is observed from the X-ray diffraction spectra that all the samples exhibit hexagonal structure of CdS thin films. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed a dense surface structure composed of crystallites whose average size increase with increasing the Mg doping. The optical transmission curves demonstrate that CdS:Ni thin films exhibit a best optical transparency in the visible range for 1 % Mg content compared to other specimens. The energy of the optical band gap tends to decrease from 2.46 to 2.40 eV with increasing Mg concentration in CdS: Ni.