Effect of chlorine doping on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of spray deposited CdS thin films

CdS and chlorine doped CdS (CdS:C1) thin films with different Cl-doping levels (0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 at%) have been deposited on glass substrates by a spray pyrolysis technique using a perfume atomizer. The effect of Cl doping on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of the films was investigated. XRD patterns revealed that all the films exhibit hexagonal crystal structure with a preferential orientation along the (0 0 2) plane irrespective of the Cl doping level. The particle size value decreases from 22.03 nm to 18.12 nm with increase in Cl concentration. Optical band gap is blue-shifted from 2.48 eV to 2.73 eV with increase in Cl doping concentration. All the films have resistivity in the order of 10(4) Omega cm. The obtained results confirm that chlorine as an anionic dopant material can enhance the physical properties of CdS thin films to a large extent. (C) 2015 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Materials Research Society.