Deposition of Nanostructured CdS Thin Films by Thermal Evaporation Method: Effect of Substrate Temperature

Nanocrystalline CdS thin films were grown on glass substrates by a thermal evaporation method in a vacuum of about 2 × 10-5 Torr at substrate temperatures ranging between 25 °C and 250 °C. The physical properties of the layers were analyzed by transmittance spectra, XRD, SEM, and four-point probe measurements, and exhibited strong dependence on substrate temperature. The XRD patterns of the films indicated the presence of single-phase hexagonal CdS with (002) orientation. The structural parameters of CdS thin films (namely crystallite size, number of grains per unit area, dislocation density and the strain of the deposited films) were also calculated. The resistivity of the as-deposited films were found to vary in the range 3.11-2.2 × 10⁴ Ω·cm, depending on the substrate temperature. The low resistivity with reasonable transmittance suggest that this is a reliable way to fine-tune the functional properties of CdS films according to the specific application.