CdS films deposited by chemical bath under rotation

Cadmium sulfide (CdS) films were deposited on rotating substrates by the chemical bath technique. The effects of the rotation speed on the morphological, optical, and structural properties of the films were discussed. A rotating substrate-holder was fabricated such that substrates can be taken out from the bath during the deposition. CdS films were deposited at different deposition times (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 min) onto Corning glass substrates at different rotation velocities (150, 300, 450, and 600 rpm) during chemical deposition. The chemical bath was composed by CdCl(2), KOH, NH(4)NO(3) and CS(NH(2))(2) as chemical reagents and heated at 75 degrees C. The results show no critical effects on the band gap energy and the surface roughness of the CdS films when the rotation speed changes. However, a linear increase on the deposition rate with the rotation energy was observed, meanwhile the stoichiometry was strongly affected by the rotation speed, resulting a better 1: 1 Cd/S ratio as speed increases. Rotation effects may be of interest in industrial production of CdTe/CdS solar cells. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.