Structural and Optical Properties of Chemically Deposited CdS Thin Films

Polycrystalline Cadmium sulfide (CdS) films were deposited onto Corning glass substrates from alkaline solutions containing CdCl₂, KOH, Na₃C₆H₅O₇ and CS(NH₂)₂ at different deposition times (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 min), bath temperatures (80 ±2 °C) and different concentration of the reactants. A comparative study was performed out on thin film via optical transmission and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The results which reveal that the deposition time has a profound influence on the growth rate and band gap of the deposited layers. Diffraction data was used to evaluate the lattice parameter, grain size, average strain, number of crystallites per unit area and dislocation density in the film are calculated.