Facile fabrication of p-type Cu_xS transparent conducting thin films by metal sulfide precursor solution approach and their application in quantum dot thin films

We present a facile route for the fabrication of P-type Cu_xS transparent and conducting thin films (TCTFs) using copper (I) oxide and butyl-dithiocarbamic acid as precursors by pulling method on glass. The as-deposited highly conductive crystalline Cu_xS films showed high carrier concentration (∼3.11 × 10²² cm⁻³), low electrical resistivity (∼1.02 × 10⁻⁴ Ω cm) and conclusive p-type conduction. X-ray diffraction studies showed high crystallinity, and the optical transmission spectra in UV–vis–NIR region of such films were recorded, indicating that the transparency was over 75% with a band gap of 1.52 eV. The room-temperature sheet resistance increased from 9.9 to 302.4 Ω sq⁻¹ with increasing baking temperature. The Cu_xS/quantum dot bifacial thin films have been fabricated, and the experimental results indicated that luminescent, transparent, and conductive Cu_xS/Cu-doped Zn_yCd_1-yS thin films have a very high potential application in thin film solar cells. - Highlights: • A metal sulfide solution precursor approach is proposed. • High carrier concentration and high transmittance are obtained. • A p-type Cu_xS thin film with low resistivity is fabricated.