Influence of substrates on the structural and optical properties of chemically deposited CdS films

• Published in: Thin solid films Vol. 515; no. 15; pp. 6089 - 6093
• Main Author: Lee, Jae-Hyeong
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 31.05.2007; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Cadmium sulfide (CdS); Chemical bath deposition (CBD); Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Flexible substrate; 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; Natural energy; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of specific thin films; Photovoltaic conversion; Physics; Solar cell; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Structure and morphology; thickness; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Thin film structure and morphology; Cadmium sulfide (CdS); Solar cell; Flexible substrate; Chemical bath deposition (CBD); Solar cells; Polyethylenes; Cubic lattices; Chemical bath deposition; Crystal orientation; Cadmium sulfides; Crystallinity; Coatings; Transmittance; Preferred orientation; Terephthalates; Thin films; Tin oxides; Hexagonal lattices; Polycarbonates; Optical properties; Silicon; Indium oxides
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2006.12.097

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) films were chemically deposited on glass, polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and Si wafer. Effects of substrate types on the structural and optical properties of the films were investigated. There is a preferential orientation of the crystallites in the film grown on the glass along the c-axis (perpendicular to the plane of the substrate) producing a strong hexagonal (0 0 2) or cubic (1 1 1) peak, regardless of the presence of ITO coating. However, such preferential orientation decreases or disappears when the deposition was made onto PC or PET substrates. The crystallinity of CdS films on glass and Si is better than that of the other ones. The average transmittance of the films on PC and PET is about 50% and 55%, respectively, and increases up to 70% for glass substrate. The improvement of the transmittance was obtained from ITO-coated substrates.