Dependences of the structural, compositional and photoluminescent properties of electrodeposited CdS films upon thermal annealing

This study investigates the effect of thermal annealing on the structural, compositional and photoluminescent properties of the electrodeposited CdS film by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence and X-ray diffraction measurements. The annealing temperature was varied from 200 to 500 degrees C. Note, the crystallinity can be enhanced while increasing temperature. Consequently, the improved crystallinity may lead to the enhanced radiative recombination processes, increasing the intensity of the band-edge luminescence. However, the high annealing temperature could make some of sulfur evaporation, enhancing the intensity of the sulfur vacancy-related luminescence and shifting the (002) diffraction peak toward higher diffraction angle. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.