The deposition of thin films of cadmium zinc sulfide Cd1−x Zn x S at 250 °C from spin-coated xanthato complexes: a potential route to window layers for photovoltaic cells
Source abstract
Abstract
Thin films of Cd1−x Zn x S (CZS) were prepared by a novel spin coating/melt method from cadmium ethylxanthato [Cd(C2H5OCS2)2] and zinc ethylxanthato [Zn(C2H5OCS2)2] in x ratios of 0–0.15 and of 1. A solution of the precursor(s) in THF was spin coated onto a glass substrate and then heated at 250 °C for 1 h under N2. The thickness of the film formed can be controlled by varying the solution composition and/or the spin rate of the coating. A total metal precursor solution concentration of 50 mM was used in all cases. The films were characterized by p-XRD, SEM, EDX, ICP-AES, XPS, UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and resistivity measurements. The band gaps of the films were between 2.35–2.58 and 3.75 eV (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15 and at x = 1). The resistivity of Cd1−x Zn x S films was found to vary linearly with zinc contents, and the properties of the films suggest potential application to photovoltaics as window layers. This work is the first study to demonstrate Cd1−x Zn x S thin films by a spin coating/melt method from xanthato precursors.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Quantum Dots Synthesis And Properties · Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films · Copper-based nanomaterials and applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (67)
Show source-provided references
1. Ampong FK, Awudza JAM, Nkum RK, Boakye F, Thomas PJ, O’Brien P (2015) Ternary cadmium zinc sulphide films with high charge mobilities. Solid State Sci 40:50–5410.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2014.12.013 ↗
2. Boyle DS, O’Brien P, Otway DJ, Robbe O (1999) Novel approach to the deposition of CdS by chemical bath deposition: the deposition of crystalline thin films of CdS from acidic baths. J Mater Chem 9:725–72910.1039/a808811j ↗
3. Nair PS, Radhakrishnan T, Revaprasadu N, Kolawole G, O’Brien P (2002) Cadmium ethylxanthate: a novel single-source precursor for the preparation of CdS nanoparticles. J Mater Chem 12:2722–272510.1039/b202072f ↗
4. Antohe S, Ion L, Antohe VA (2003) The effect of the electron irradiation on the structural and electrical properties of A II-B VI thin polycrystalline films. Optoelectron Adv Mater 5:801–816
5. Mosiori C (2014) Inorganic ternary thin films; analysis of optical properties, 1st edn. Anchor Academic Publishing, Hamburg
6. Jana S, Maity R, Das S, Mitra MK, Chattopadhyay KK (2007) Synthesis, structural and optical characterization of nanocrystalline ternary thin films by chemical process. Phys E Low-dimens Syst Nanostruct 39:109–11410.1016/j.physe.2007.01.009 ↗
7. Khefacha Z (2004) Electrical and optical properties of Cd1−x Zn x S (0 ≤ x≤0.18) grown by chemical bath deposition. J Cryst Growth 260:400–40910.1016/j.jcrysgro.2003.07.031 ↗
8. Boyle DS, Robbe O, Halliday DP, Heinrich MR, Bayer A, O’Brien P, Otway DJ, Potter MDG (2000) A novel method for the synthesis of the ternary thin film semiconductor cadmium zinc sulfide from acidic chemical baths. J Mater Chem 10:2439–244110.1039/b005544l ↗
9. Han J, Fu G, Krishnakumar V, Liao C, Jaegermann W, Besland MP (2013) Preparation and characterization of ZnS/CdS bi-layer for CdTe solar cell application. J Phys Chem Solids 74:1879–188310.1016/j.jpcs.2013.08.004 ↗
10. Kumar SG, Rao KSRK (2014) Physics and chemistry of CdTe/CdS thin film heterojunction photovoltaic devices: fundamental and critical aspects. Energy Environ Sci 7:45–10210.1039/C3EE41981A ↗
11. Colletti LP, Flowers BH, Stickney JL (1998) Formation of thin films of CdTe, CdSe, and CdS by electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy. J Electrochem Soc 145:1442–144910.1149/1.1838502 ↗
12. Jackson P, Hariskos D, Wuerz R, Wischmann W, Powalla M (2014) Compositional investigation of potassium doped Cu(In, Ga)Se2 solar cells with efficiencies up to 20.8%. Phys Status Solidi Rapid Res Lett 8:219–22210.1002/pssr.201409040 ↗
13. Afzaal M, Malik MA, O’Brien P (2010) Chemical routes to chalcogenide materials as thin films or particles with critical dimensions with the order of nanometres. J Mater Chem 20:4031–404010.1039/b923898k ↗
14. Ramasamy K, Malik MA, Revaprasadu N, O’Brien P (2013) Routes to nanostructured inorganic materials with potential for solar energy applications. Chem Mater 25:3551–356910.1021/cm401366q ↗
15. Matthews PD, McNaughter PD, Lewis DJ, O’Brien P (2017) Shining a light on transition metal chalcogenides for sustainable photovoltaics. Chem Sci 8:4177–418710.1039/C7SC00642J ↗
16. Karanjai MK, Dasgupta D (1987) Preparation and study of sulphide thin films deposited by the dip technique. Thin Solid Films 155:309–31510.1016/0040-6090(87)90075-7 ↗
17. Mammadov MN, Sh Aliyev A, Elrouby M (2012) Electrodeposition of cadmium sulfide. Int J Thin Film Sci Technol 1:43–53
18. Barreca D, Gasparotto A, Maragno C, Seraglia R, Tondello E, Venzo A, Krishnan V, Bertagnolli H (2005) Cadmium O-alkylxanthates as CVD precursors of CdS: a chemical characterization. Appl Organomet Chem 19:59–6710.1002/aoc.833 ↗
19. Ramasamy K, Malik MA, Helliwell M, Raftery J, O’Brien P (2011) Thio-and dithio-biuret precursors for zinc sulfide, cadmium sulfide, and zinc cadmium sulfide thin films. Chem Mater 23:1471–148110.1021/cm1030393 ↗
20. Wattoo MHS, Tirmizi SA, Quddos A, Khan MB, Wattoo FH, Wadood A, Ghangro AB (2011) Aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition of thin films of cadmium sulfide and zinc sulfide prepared from bis(dibutyldithiocarbamato)metal complexes. Arab J Sci Eng 36:565–57110.1007/s13369-011-0060-x ↗
21. Memon AA, Dilshad M, Revaprasadu N, Malik MA, Raftery J, Akhtar J (2015) Deposition of cadmium sulfide and zinc sulfide thin films by aerosol-assisted chemical vapors from molecular precursors. Turk J Chem 39:169–17810.3906/kim-1407-37 ↗
22. Alexander JN, Higashiya S, Caskey D, Efstathiadis H, Haldar P (2014) Deposition and characterization of cadmium sulfide (CdS) by chemical bath deposition using an alternative chemistry cadmium precursor. Sol Energy Mater Sol Cells 125:47–5310.1016/j.solmat.2014.02.017 ↗
23. Ouachtari F (2011) Influence of bath temperature, deposition time and S/Cd ratio on the structure, surface morphology, chemical composition and optical properties of CdS thin films elaborated by chemical bath deposition. J Mod Phys 2:1073–108210.4236/jmp.2011.29131 ↗
24. Yadav AA, Barote MA, Masumdar EU (2010) Studies on nanocrystalline cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin films deposited by spray pyrolysis. Solid State Sci 12:1173–117710.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2010.04.001 ↗
25. Yadav AA, Masumdar EU (2011) Photoelectrochemical investigations of cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin film electrodes prepared by spray pyrolysis. J Alloys Compd 509:5394–539910.1016/j.jallcom.2011.02.061 ↗
26. Sahay PP, Nath RK, Tewari S (2007) Optical properties of thermally evaporated CdS thin films. Cryst Res Technol 42:275–28010.1002/crat.200610812 ↗
27. Pathan HM, Lokhande CD (2004) Deposition of metal chalcogenide thin films by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. Bull Mater Sci 27:85–11110.1007/BF02708491 ↗
28. Osakada K, Yamamoto T (1987) Formation of ZnS and CdS. J Chem Soc 1117:1117–1118
29. Abdelhady AL, Malik MA, O’Brien P (2014) CdS and Zn × Cd1−x S Nanoparticles from zinc and cadmium thiobiuret complexes colloidal synthesis of ZnS. J Inorg Organomet Polym Mater 24:226–24010.1007/s10904-013-9902-1 ↗
30. Lahewil ASZ, Al-Douri Y, Hashim U, Ahmed NM (2013) Structural, analysis and optical studies of cadmium sulfide nanostructured. Procedia Eng 53:217–22410.1016/j.proeng.2013.02.029 ↗
31. Lahewil ASZ, Al-Douri Y, Hashim U, Ahmed NM (2013) Structural and morphological studies of cadmium sulfide nanostructures. Adv Mater Res 795:228–23210.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.795.228 ↗
32. De Kergommeaux A, Fiore A, Faure-Vincent J, Pron A, Reiss P (2013) Colloidal CuInSe2 nanocrystals thin films of low surface roughness. Adv Nat Sci Nanosci Nanotechnol 4:1–6
33. Ramasamy K, Malik MA, O’Brien P, Raftery J (2010) Metal complexes of thiobiurets and dithiobiurets: novel single source precursors for metal sulfide thin film nanostructures. Dalt Trans 39:1460–146310.1039/B923179J ↗
34. Thomas PJ, Stansfield GL, Komba N et al (2015) Growth of nanocrystalline thin films of metal sulfides [CdS, ZnS, CuS and PbS] at the water–oil interface. RSC Adv 5:62291–6229910.1039/C5RA09417H ↗
35. Hall DB, Underhill P, Torkelson JM (1998) Spin coating of thin and ultrathin polymer films. Polym Eng Sci 38:2039–204510.1002/pen.10373 ↗
36. Lewis EA, McNaughter PD, Yin Z, Chen Y, Brent JR, Saah SA, Raftery J, Awudza JAM, Malik MA, O’Brien P (2015) In situ synthesis of PbS nanocrystals in polymer thin films from lead (II) xanthate and dithiocarbamate complexes: evidence for size and morphology control. Chem Mater 27:2127–213610.1021/cm504765z ↗
37. McNaughter PD, Saah SA, Akhtar M, Abdulwahab K, Malik MA, Raftery J, Awudza JAM, O’Brien P (2016) The effect of alkyl chain length on the structure of lead (II) xanthates and their decomposition to PbS in melt reactions. Dalton Trans 45:16345–1635310.1039/C6DT02859D ↗
38. Yeh CY, Lu ZW, Froyen S, Zunger A (1992) Zinc-blendewurtzite polytypism in semiconductors. Phys Rev B 46:10086–1009710.1103/PhysRevB.46.10086 ↗
39. Moore D, Wang ZL (2006) Growth of anisotropic one-dimensional ZnS nanostructures. J Mater Chem 16:3898–390510.1039/b607902b ↗
40. Singh VP, Singh S (1976) Some physical properties of ZnCdS solid solutions. Czechoslov J Phys 26:1161–116610.1007/BF01591089 ↗
41. Rohovec J, Toušková J, Toušek J, Schauer F, Kuvritka I (2011) New cadmium sulfide nanomaterial for heterogeneous organic photovoltaic cells. In: World Renewable Energy Congress, Sweden, pp 2815–282210.3384/ecp110572815 ↗
42. Velez E, Quijano J, Notario R, Murillo J, Ramirez JF (2008) Computational study of the mechanism of thermal decomposition of xanthates in the gas phase (the Chugaev reaction). J Phys Org Chem 21:797–80710.1002/poc.1383 ↗
43. Garaje SN, Apte SK, Naik SD, Ambekar JD, Sonawane RS, Kulkarni MV, Vinu A, Kale BB (2013) Template-Free Synthesis of Nanostructured Cd × Zn1−x S with Tunable Band Structure for H2 production and organic dye degradation using solar light. Environ Sci Technol 47:6664–667210.1021/es3045955 ↗
44. Marychurch M, Morris GC (1985) X-ray photoelectron spectra of crystal and thin film cadmium sulphide. Surf Sci 154:251–25410.1016/0039-6028(85)90035-4 ↗
45. Laajalehto K, Kartio I, Nowak P (1994) XPS study of clean metal sulfide surfaces. Appl Surf Sci 81:11–1510.1016/0169-4332(94)90080-9 ↗
46. Ramasamy K, Malik MA, O’Brien P, Raftery J (2008) ZnS, CdS and Zn x Cd1−x S thin films from Zn (II) and Cd (II) complexes of 1, 1, 5, 5-tetramethyl-2-4-dithiobiuret as single molecular precursors. Mater Res Soc Proc 4:1145–1151
47. Zhao Y, Zhang Y, Zhu H, Hadjipanayis GC, Xiao JQ (2004) Low-temperature synthesis of hexagonal (wurtzite) ZnS nanocrystals. J Am Chem Soc 126:6874–687510.1021/ja048650g ↗
48. Scott SD, Barnes HL (1972) Sphalerite-wurtzite equilibria and stoichiometry. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 36:1275–129510.1016/0016-7037(72)90049-X ↗
49. Pike RD, Cui H, Kershaw R, Dwight K, Wold A, Blanton TN, Wernberg AA, Gysling HJ (1993) Preparation of zinc sulfide thin films by ultrasonic spray pyrolsis from bis (diethyldithiocarbamato) zinc (II). Thin Solid Films 224:221–22610.1016/0040-6090(93)90436-S ↗
50. Lee K-T, Guo LJ, Park HJ (2016) Neutral- and multi-colored semitransparent perovskite solar cells. Molecules 21:475–49610.3390/molecules21040475 ↗
51. Kamuruzzaman M (2014) Synthesis and characterization of Zn1−x Cd x S thin films prepared by the spray pyrolysis technique. Asian J Appl Sci 7:607–62010.3923/ajaps.2014.607.620 ↗
52. Hotje U, Rose C, Binnewies M (2003) Lattice constants and molar volume in the system ZnS, ZnSe, CdS, CdSe. Solid State Sci 5:1259–126210.1016/S1293-2558(03)00177-8 ↗
53. Peter AJ, Lee CW (2012) Electronic and optical properties of CdS/CdZnS nanocrystals. Chin Phys B 21:8730210.1088/1674-1056/21/8/087302 ↗
54. Kassim A, WeeTee T (2010) Preparation and characterization of iron sulphide thin films by chemical bath deposition method. Indo J Chem 10:8–1110.22146/ijc.21473 ↗
55. Dzhafarov TD, Ongul F, Karabay I (2006) Formation of CdZnS thin films by Zn diffusion. J Phys D Appl Phys 39:3221–322510.1088/0022-3727/39/15/001 ↗
56. Sarkar A, Ghosh S, Chaudhuri S, Pal AK (1991) Studies on electron transport properties and the Burstein-Moss shift in indium-doped ZnO films. Thin Solid Films 204:255–26410.1016/0040-6090(91)90067-8 ↗
57. Chavhan SD, Senthilarasu S, Lee S-H (2008) Annealing effect on the structural and optical properties of a Cd1−x Zn x S thin film for photovoltaic applications. Appl Surf Sci 254:4539–454510.1016/j.apsusc.2008.01.054 ↗
58. Sebastian PJ, Narvaez J (1996) Photosensitive ZnCdS nanoparticles in a CdS matrix formed by high temperature sintering of ZnS and CdCl2 in argon. Thin Solid Films 287:130–13310.1016/S0040-6090(96)08748-2 ↗
59. Lee Y, Kim S, Kim HS et al (2017) Highly luminescent blue-emitting CdZnS/ZnS nanorods having electric-field-induced fluorescence switching properties. J Mater Chem C 5:2098–210610.1039/C6TC04602A ↗
60. Shannon RD (1976) Revised effective ionic radii and systematic studies of interatomic distances in halides and chalcogenides. Acta Crystallogr Sect A 32:751–76710.1107/S0567739476001551 ↗
61. Xing C, Zhang Y, Yan W, Guo L (2006) Band structure-controlled solid solution of Cd1−x Zn x S photocatalyst for hydrogen production by water splitting. Int J Hydrog Energy 31:2018–202410.1016/j.ijhydene.2006.02.003 ↗
62. Verma KC, Kotnala RK (2016) Realizing ferromagnetic ordering in SnO2 and ZnO nanostructures with Fe Co, Ce ions. Phys Chem Chem Phys 18:17565–1757410.1039/C6CP02283A ↗
63. Chynoweth TA, Bube RH (1980) Electrical transport in ZnCdS films deposited by spray pyrolysis. J Appl Phys 51:1844–184610.1063/1.327755 ↗
64. Al Kuhaimi SA, Tulbah Z (2000) Structural, compositional, optical, and electrical properties of solution-grown Zn x Cd1−x S films. J Electrochem Soc 147:214–21810.1149/1.1393177 ↗
65. Rajathi S, Subramanian NS, Ramanathan K, Senthamizhselvi M (2013) Influence of deposition temperature on the structural and optoelectronic properties of CdZnS thin films. Adv Mater Res 699:606–61110.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.699.606 ↗
66. Al Kuhaimi SA (1998) Influence of preparation technique on the structural, optical and electrical properties of polycrystalline CdS films. Vacuum 51:349–35510.1016/S0042-207X(98)00112-2 ↗
67. Tepantlan CS (2008) Structural, optical and electrical properties of CdS thin films obtained by spray pyrolysis. Rev Mex Fis 54:112–117