Abstract
Chemical bath deposition (CBD) is a suitable, inexpensive, and versatile synthesis technique to fabricate different semiconductors under soft conditions. In this study, we deposited Zn(O;OH)S thin films by the CBD method to analyze the effect of the number of thin film layers on structural and optical properties of buffer layers. Thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Vis transmittance measurements. Furthermore, we simulated a species distribution diagram for Zn(O;OH)S film generation during the deposition process. The optical results showed that the number of layers determined the optical transmittance of buffer layers, and that the transmittance reduced from 90% (with one layer) to 50% (with four layers) at the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The structural characterization indicated that the coatings were polycrystalline (α-ZnS and β-Zn(OH)2 to four layers). Our results suggest that Zn(O;OH)S thin films could be used as buffer layers to replace CdS thin films as an optical window in thin-film solar cells.
Highlights
Nowadays, the main primary energy source for electricity generation remains fossil fuels, which are a non-renewable resource presenting a negative environmental impact due to emissions of greenhouse gases and other polluting by-products [1,2,3]
We studied the effect of the number of buffer layers on the optical and structural properties of Zn(O;OH)S coatings deposited by Chemical bath deposition (CBD)
The CBD process has been used in thin-film semiconductor synthesis for several decades, most reports do not explain the mechanism of film formation
Summary
The main primary energy source for electricity generation remains fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas), which are a non-renewable resource presenting a negative environmental impact due to emissions of greenhouse gases and other polluting by-products [1,2,3] This traditional energy source does not warrant a long-term supply of the growing demand for energy created by population and industry growth [4,5,6]. The possibility of increasing optical transmission and deleting a toxic element (Cd) has directed the research in the field to study different synthesis parameters to optimize the CBD process (e.g., the effect of temperature, chalcogenide and metal source, complexing agents, pH, stirring). We studied the effect of the number of buffer layers on the optical and structural properties of Zn(O;OH)S coatings deposited by CBD
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