Characterization of cadmium selenide films for photovoltaic applications

Crystalline cadmium selenide thin films have been deposited using dip technique. The precursor solution contains cadmium sulphate, sodium selenosulphate with maleic acid as a complexing agent. The deposited films undergo various characterization techniques. The crystalline phase of the deposited sample was hexagonal wurtzite-type. Compositional study indicates ratio of Cd:Se was close to 1:1. The direct optical band gap energy was found to be 1.90 eV. The construction of fabricated cell is CdSe|NaOH (1 M) + S (1 M) + Na2S (1 M)|C(graphite). The photoelectrochemical characterization of the films is carried out by studying current–voltage characterization, capacitance–voltage and power output characteristics. The fill factor and efficiency of the cell were found to be 33.44% and 1.01%, respectively.