Electrodeposition of Ternary CdZnS Semiconductor Thin Films Using a S-Modified Polycrystalline Au Electrode

This paper describes a two-step approach for the electrochemical deposition of CdZnS thin films on the polycrystalline Au electrode. Initially, an Au substrate is electrochemically modified with a sulfur layer. In the second step, the layer is electroreduced to $S^{2-}$ in the electrolyte dosed with the requisite amount of $Cd^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ ions to generate CdZnS films in situ. This approach was validated using a combination of linear sweep voltammetry and electrochemical quartz crystal microgravimetry. Thus synthesized CdZnS thin films have different composition depending on the composition of electrolytes. CdZnS thin films are characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis and Raman spectroscopy.