Gamma radiation effect on the structural and optical properties of CdS thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis technique

Abstract One way to increase the solar cell efficiency is to increase the range of transmitted visible light throughout the window layer. This could be achieved via broadening its band gap; an aim that could be attained through doping and/or irradiation technique. In this way, cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films have been successfully prepared on pre-heated glass substrates at 400 °C by spray pyrolysis technique and the effect of gamma radiation dose on the structural and optical properties of CdS thin films has been investigated in the range of 250 to 450 Gy. The XRD results manifest the formation of hexagonal phase of CdS with a crystallite size of 58.73 nm, which decreased to 47.26 nm after exposure to 350 Gy. Also, the SEM micrographs show the formation of some randomly oriented groups of nano-rods on the surface of highly condensed nanorods of CdS thin film. The optical investigation illustrates that a blue shift in the optical gap from 2.4 to 3.34 eV has been occurred as the radiation dose reached 350 Gy. The sensitivity of the films to the applied dose has approached 0.005 eV/Gy. Moreover, the shifted band gap exhibited less fading up to 74 days.