Electron beam evaporated cadmium sulphide thin films for solar cell applications

• 1、National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonic and Electronic Materials Sciences and Technology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093
• 2、National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093
• 3、 National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Photonic and Electronic Materials Sciences and Technology, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093

Abstract：Cadmium sulphide (CdS) thin films were deposited by electron beam evaporation at different substrate temperatures. The structural characteristics were studied by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. The CdS films are polycrystalline, exhibiting a preferred orientation along the (002) plane. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the root mean square (RMS) roughness of the films increases as the substrate temperature increases. The optical band gap values of CdS films decrease slightly with the increasing substrate temperature, in the range of 2.42-2.48 eV. The electrical characteristics of CdS/p-Si heterojunctions were investigated in dark condition and under illumination. Excellent rectifying and photovoltaic properties were observed.

Keywords： Cadmium sulphide electron beam evaporation substrate temperature solar cell