Effects of deposition temperature on the performance of CdS films with chemical bath deposition

CdS thin films were prepared by chemical-bath deposition (CBD) from a bath containing thiourea, acetic cadmium, ammonia and ammonium acetate in an aqueous solution onto glass substrates at various bath temperatures. Spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), step height measurement instrument, digital four-point probe resistance measurement and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize their properties. The diffraction peak which appeared at 26.5 degrees becomes obvious after annealing. The thicknesses of CdS films obtained at 70 to 90 degrees C are at the range of 60-110nm. The transmittance of the CdS films increases rapidly as the wavelength increases when the wavelength of incident light is less than 550nm. The transmittance becomes above 70% when the incident wavelength is larger than 550nm. The transmittance of the CdS films decreases as the bath temperature increases. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.