Photovoltaic properties of nanocrystalline CdS films deposited by SILAR and CBD techniques—a comparative study

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2012, Vol.23 (1), p.302-308
• Main Authors: Senthamilselvi, V., Saravanakumar, K., Jabena Begum, N., Anandhi, R., Ravichandran, A. T., Sakthivel, B., Ravichandran, K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Liquid phase epitaxy; deposition from liquid phases (melts, solutions, and surface layers on liquids); Materials Science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Optical and Electronic Materials; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of low-dimensional, mesoscopic, and nanoscale materials and structures; Physics; Solid surfaces and solid-solid interfaces; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Structure of specific crystalline solids; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-011-0409-7

CdS films were fabricated using Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) technique from starting solutions having S:Cd ratio 1:1, 3:1, 5:1 and 7:1 and their structural, surface morphological and optical properties were investigated and compared with that of their chemical bath deposited counterparts. The X-ray diffraction profiles showed that the films have cubic crystal structure with preferential orientation along the (111) plane and the intensity of the (111) plane increases for both the techniques as the S:Cd ratio increases. The energy dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that for SILAR deposited films, the S/Cd ratio in the sample increases from 0.8308 (for S:Cd 1:1) to 1.04 (for S:Cd 7:1) as the molar concentration of sulphur in the starting solution increases. But for CBD films, the S/Cd is only ~0.80 for all concentrations of sulphur in the starting solution. The optical band gap increases with the increase in S:Cd ratio in the starting solution in both the techniques.