Deposition of Fe-CdZnS doped chalcogenide based thin films employing chemical bath deposition method: studies on microstructural morphology, optical, and electrical, properties for photovoltaic applications

A thin film of Fe-CdZnS was fabricated using the Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) procedure in an aqueous solution, which was then deposited onto a glass substrate. The resulting thin film was subjected to characterization using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive Xray spectroscopy (EDX), Xray diffraction (XRD) for structural analysis, and UV-Visible spectrophotometry for optical investigations. The energy band gaps of the produced film were established by analyzing the UV-VIS absorption data, both in terms of direct and indirect transitions. According to XRD results, the film shows nano crystallinity with cubical structure. The presence of doping ions was confirmed by EDS results where ratio of Fe ions inside the CdZnS was equal to 0.3 from total elements. The (SEM) graphs of the Fe-CdZnS film exhibit a distinct leafy and fiber-like morphology when observed from a planar perspective. The direct and indirect bandgaps were calculated and found equal to 2.8 and 2.3 eV respectively.