Effect of annealing atmosphere on microstructure, optical and electronic properties of spray-pyrolysed In-doped Zn(O,S) thin films

Spray-pyrolysed zinc oxy-sulphide Zn(O,S) has been doped with varying concentrations of indium (In) to improve its electrical and optical properties for possible application as buffer layer in thin film solar cells. The In-doping in Zn(O,S) is found to change the electron carrier concentration from $$10¹⁹$$ to $$10¹⁸\,\hbox {cm}^-3$$ and a subsequent annealing in argon atmosphere is found to improve its electrical conductivity. Moreover, annealing in air atmosphere reduces the carrier concentration to a range of $$10¹³$$ – $$10¹⁵\,\hbox {cm}^-3$$ making it useful as a buffer layer. The reduction in degeneracy of In-doped Zn(O,S) is desirable for its application as buffer material, whereas annealing in argon makes it suitable as electron membrane (window layer) in thin film solar cell.