Comparative studies on pinhole free CBD-CdZnS thin films on ITO and FTO substrate

Abstract

The development of CdZnS thin films using the chemical bath deposition process in nonaqueous media is a technological challenge. In this work, 75 millilitres of ethylene glycol and ethanol (1:2 ratios) were used to develop a CdZnS thin film on ITO and FTO glass substrates using cadmium acetate, zinc sulphate, and thiourea. The ideal bath temperature was kept at 1300C and the anneal temperature of the film that had been deposited in the air was maintained at 3500C. The films have been examined using FTIR, WCA, FESEM, and XRD. XRD studies reveal that CdZnS films have a hexagonal crystal structure with a preference for orientation (002) during the deposition and annealing processes and the assessment of the various attributes have been done, such as dislocation density, micro strain, and grain size. FESEM study indicates that as deposited film on ITO glass have smooth surface and grains appear in the form of small needle shape of equal sizes where as FTO substrate reveals the grains of equal size throughout the entire surface in cluster form. It is also confirmed that both the CdZnS films formed on ITO and FTO substrates have hydrophilic quality. The presence of chemical bonds and functional groups was confirmed by FTIR analysis.