Characterization of chemically deposited ZnS thin films on bare and conducting glass

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films are deposited onto both bare and ITO coated glass by low-cost and simple aqueous chemical bath deposition (CBD) method for using it in thin film solar cells. The optimized growth conditions are chosen for deposition of ZnS thin films by investigating photo-electrochemic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Optik (Stuttgart) Vol. 126; no. 24; pp. 5194 - 5199
Main Authors:	Doha, M.H., Alam, M.J., Rabeya, J., Siddiquee, K.A.M.H., Hussain, S., Islam, O., Gafur, M.A., Islam, S., Khatun, N., Sarkar, S.H.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier GmbH 01-12-2015
Subjects:	Chemical bath deposition Optical properties Structural properties Thin film ZnS layer ZnS layer Chemical bath deposition Optical properties Structural properties Thin film
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Summary:	Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films are deposited onto both bare and ITO coated glass by low-cost and simple aqueous chemical bath deposition (CBD) method for using it in thin film solar cells. The optimized growth conditions are chosen for deposition of ZnS thin films by investigating photo-electrochemical (PEC), optical, structural and morphological properties of both as-deposited and annealed films. PEC measurements of the films show n-type electrical conductivity. Optical measurements show that the films have higher transmittance and lower absorbance above 700nm. The band gap of the films lies in the range 3.67–3.68eV for bare glass substrates and 3.62–3.65eV for ITO coated conducting glass substrates. From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) study, as-deposited films are found to be polycrystalline with (111) and (220) preferential orientations of the cubic structure. The XRD results show that the average crystallite size is estimated to 40.41nm for as-deposited films and 50.59nm for annealed films deposited on to bare glass substrates. For ITO coated conducting glass substrates it is estimated to 43.23nm for as-deposited films and to 53.32nm for annealed films. The XRD results also show that lattice constant of ZnS is observed to 0.5626–0.5671nm. From Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) study it is found that the films appeared dense crack-free surfaces with regular granular shaped grains. Comparing the results of the deposited ZnS thin films on bare and ITO coated glass substrates, it is observed that the properties of the deposited films are not substrate dependent.
ISSN:	0030-4026 1618-1336
DOI:	10.1016/j.ijleo.2015.09.234