Effects of CdCl 2 heat treatment on the qualities of CdS thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering technique

Abstract

The CdS thin film used as a window layer in the CdTe thin film solar cell transports photo-generated electrons to the front contact and forms a p-n junction with the CdTe layer. This is why the electrical, optical, and surface properties of the CdS thin film influence the efficiency of the CdTe thin film solar cell. When CdTe thin film solar cells are fabricated, a heat treatment is done to improve the qualities of the CdS thin films. Of the many types of heat treatments, the CdCl 2 heat treatment is most widely used because the grain size in CdS thin films increases and interdiffusion between the CdS and the CdTe layer is prevented by the heat treatment. To investigate the changes in the electrical, optical, and surface properties and the crystallinity of the CdS thin films due to heat treatment, CdS thin films were deposited on FTO/glass substrates by the rf magnetron sputtering technique, and then a CdCl 2 heat treatment was carried out. After the CdCl 2 heat treatment, the clustershaped grains in the CdS thin film increased in size and their boundaries became faint. XRD results show that the crystallinity improved and the crystalline size increased from 15 to 42 nm. The resistivity of the CdS single layer decreased from 3.87 to 0.26 Ωcm, and the transmittance in the visible region increased from 64% to 74%.