Method for making cadmium sulfide layer
View Patent ↗A method for making a cadmium sulfide layer is provided. The method includes a number of steps including providing a substrate and disposing a layer containing cadmium on the substrate followed by sulfurization of the cadmium-containing layer.
1. A method of making a cadmium sulfide layer, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a substrate,
disposing a layer of cadmium metal on the substrate,
incorporating oxygen into the cadmium layer, and
sulfurizing the cadmium layer to substantially transform cadmium to cadmium sulfide to form an oxygen-containing cadmium sulfide (CdS:O) layer.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises glass.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a transparent conducting layer disposed on a surface of the substrate.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the transparent conductive layer comprises an oxide, a sulfide, a phosphide, a telluride, or combinations thereof.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the substrate further comprises a high-resistance transparent (HRT) layer disposed on the transparent conducting layer.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the high-resistance transparent layer comprises zinc oxide, tin oxide or a combination thereof.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the cadmium layer is deposited on the transparent conducting layer.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a non-transparent layer.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the non-transparent layer comprises one or more element selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, indium, gallium, aluminum, zinc, tin and selenium.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the cadmium layer is disposed on the non-transparent layer.
11. The method of the claim 1 , wherein the cadmium layer is disposed by a vacuum deposition technique selected from the group consisting of evaporation deposition, electron beam physical vapor deposition, sputter deposition, cathode arc deposition and pulsed laser deposition.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CdS:O layer has a thickness in a range of about 10 nm to about 200 nm.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the CdS:O layer has a thickness in a range of about 50 nm to about 100 nm.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein sulfurizing the cadmium layer comprises exposing the cadmium-containing layer to a sulfur-containing atmosphere.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the sulfur-containing atmosphere comprises a gas selected from the group consisting of hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide, sulfur hexafluoride, sulfur dichloride, alkane thiols, and thioethers.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein sulfurization of the cadmium layer is carried out in a temperature range of about 100 degrees Celsius to about 1000 degrees Celsius.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein sulfurization of the cadmium layer is carried out in a temperature range of about 200 degrees Celsius to about 600 degrees Celsius.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein sulfurization of the cadmium layer is carried out for a period ranging of about 2 minutes to about 5 hours.
19. The method of claim 14 , wherein sulfurization of the cadmium layer is carried out for a period ranging of about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oxygen is present in an amount greater than about 1 atomic percent.