Effect of different annealing conditions on the properties of chemically deposited ZnS thin films on ITO coated glass substrates

Novel reduced toxic route synthesis and characterization of chemical bath deposited ZnSe thin films

“…The CIGS TFSCs are typically fabricated using chemical bath deposited CdS (CBD-CdS) thin films as a buffer layer. The buffer layer plays a vital role in the TFSCs, where it is employed between an absorber layer and a transparent conducting oxide layer, since it adjusts the appropriate interface charge and reduces chemical modification and lattice mismatch between the two layers, which results from chemical species in the sensitive surface of the absorber layer and junction regions [2,3]. Although the CBD-CdS buffer layer provides the above mentioned advantages for outstanding TFSCs performance, light with wavelength lower than 520 nm cannot be transmitted through the absorber layer due to the relatively narrow band gap energy of 2.4 eV.…”

“…Therefore, the Cd based buffer layer should be replaced for two reasons; (i) further improvement in the short circuit current (I sc ), which can be achieved using a wide band gap material and (ii) environmentally friendly synthesis process. Among the various alternatives such as ZnO, ZnS, ZnSe, In 2 S 3 and InSe [9][10][11][12][13], the wide band gap materials like zinc sulphide (ZnS) with a band gap energy of 3.7 eV and zinc selenide (ZnSe) with band gap energy of 2.7 eV are the best candidates since they are economically priced and create low conduction band offsets [3,6,14]. Additionally these materials are most appropriate for their use in photoluminescent, electroluminescent devices and in short wavelength emitting diodes due to their wide band gap energy [15][16][17].…”

“…The K sp of ZnSe is very low (10 −31 ) [17] as compared to CdS (10 −27 ) [21] and ZnS (10 −24.7 ) [3], therefore, growing uniform ZnSe thin films is an art wherein the usual practices are of no use and one has to use an appropriate complexing agent. Many researchers therefore introduced hydrazine hydrate (HH), as a complexing agent, which controls Zn 2+ ion concentration during the deposition process in order to obtain uniform ZnSe thin films [11,17,20].…”

“…Several researchers have reported that the addition of HH in a reaction bath improves adherence, uniformity, homogeneity, and growth rate of ZnSe thin films, and that HH plays the role of side complexing agent [11,17,20,22]. Although the previous reports have indicated uniform, adhered ZnSe thin films with improved growth rate using HH, the highly flammable, toxic and carcinogenic nature of HH cannot be ignored in concern with human beings and environmental safety [3].…”

Electrodeposited ZnS Precursor Layer with Improved Electrooptical Properties for Efficient Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin-Film Solar Cells

“…These defects would result in increased electronic levels that improve PL emission. 18 Broad peaks were observed at 320 nm, 318 nm, and 311 nm, which were attributed to band-edge emission. 19 Peak shifts with increasing sulfurization temperature were ascribed to donoracceptor band transitions, where Zn acted as the donor and defects or impurities in the film acted as acceptors.…”