The effect of sulfur concentration on the properties of chemical bath deposited CdS thin films

We study the structural, surface morphology and optical properties of chemical bath deposited (CBD) cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films under the effect of variation of S/Cd ratio. CdS thin films have been successfully deposited by CBD technique with solutions containing S/Cd ionic concentration ratio of 5.0, 2.5, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25. Single phase CdS, with a hexagonal structure, is observed for the concentration of S/Cd = 5.0, 2.5, 1.0 and 0.5 films while for the ratio of 0.25, the films exhibited a partially amorphous nature. These have been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission and scanning electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) analyses. The band gaps of the films obtained by transmission and photoacoustic spectra are found to be in the range of 2.40 to 3.26 eV. The large variation of band gaps of the films with composition is discussed by employing quantum size effect phenomena. The transition levels of CdS are also studied using photoacoustic spectroscopy.