Substrate Temperature Effects on Structural and Optical Properties of RF Sputtered CdS Thin Films

In this study, CdS thin films were deposited onto glass substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The films were grown at various substrate temperatures in the range of 100 to $250^{\circ}C$. The effects of substrate temperatures on the structural and optical properties were examined. The XRD analysis revealed that CdS films were polycrystalline and retained the mixed structure of hexagonal wurtzite and cubic phase. The percentages of hexagonal structured crystallites in the films were seen to be increased by increasing substrate temperatures. The film grown at $250^{\circ}C$ showed a relatively high transmittance of 80% in the visible region, with an energy band gap of 2.45 eV. The transmittance date analysis indicated that the optical band gap was closely related to the substrate temperatures.