Photoluminescence studies on nanostructured cadmium sulfide thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition method and annealed at different temperatures

Nanostructured cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films have been prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method and after post deposition annealing of the thin films at different temperatures, photoluminescence (PL) property has been studied. The effects of various photoexcitation wavelengths on the PL behaviour of different annealed films of CdS were studied by recording the PL spectra. The intensity of PL, the profile of the PL spectra and the effects of photoexcitation wavelength depend drastically on the temperature of the post deposition annealing of the thin films. The XRD patterns of the films show the presence of both the hexagonal and cubic phases (mixed phases). The emission peak arises from the surface defects of the CdS nanocrystalline thin films. Significant modification in the surface morphology of the CdS films upon annealing has been observed from the FESEM images. The morphology of the thin films is expected to influence the PL behaviour of the CdS thin films. The quantum size effect and size dependant PL have been observed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.