Electron beam evaporation deposition of cadmium sulphide and cadmium telluride thin films: Solar cell applications

Cadmium sulphide (CdS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films are deposited by electron beam evaporation. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the root mean square (RMS) roughness values of the CdS films increase as substrate temperature increases. The optical band gap values of CdS films increase slightly with the increase in the substrate temperature, in a range of 2.42–2.48 eV. The result of Hall effect measurement suggests that the carrier concentration decreases as the substrate temperature increases, making the resistivity of the CdS films increase. CdTe films annealed at 300°C show that their lowest transmittances are due to their largest packing densities. The electrical characteristics of CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells are investigated in dark conditions and under illumination. Typical rectifying and photovoltaic properties are obtained.