Structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films prepared by laser ablation using target of ZnO powder mixture with glue

ZnO thin films were deposited on ITO/glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using two different kinds of targets. One of the targets was made of pure ZnO powder and the other one consisted of a mixture of ZnO powder with cyanoacrylate glue. The structural and morphological properties of the films obtained using both targets were compared, in order to determine which one produces samples with properties more suitable for their use as buffer and antireflective layer in CdTe-based solar cells, also different heterostructures were deposited to study the optical properties of the obtained thin films and their utility in the applications mentioned before. The films deposited with the mixture powder target were polycrystalline with preferential orientations in the planes (100) and (101) with a high transmittance in the range of 70–90% in the 540–850 nm wavelength region and showed a high resistivity of $${\sim }1.30 \times 10² \,\Omega \hbox { cm}^-1$$ , such properties are considered to be appropriate for thin films that are wanted to be used as a buffer and antireflective layer in CdTe solar cells.