Synthesis of zinc sulfide by chemical vapor deposition using an organometallic precursor: Di-tertiary-butyl-disulfide

Zinc sulfide has gained popularity in the last few years as a cadmium-free heterojunction partner for thin film solar cells and is seen as a good replacement for cadmium sulfide due to better blue photon response and non-toxicity. In this work, zinc sulfide films are prepared using an organic sulfur source. We report a simple and repeatable process for development of zinc sulfide using a cost-effective and less hazardous organic sulfur source. The development of zinc sulfide has been studied on zinc oxide-coated glass where the zinc oxide is converted into zinc sulfide. Zinc oxide grown by atomic layer deposition as well as commercially available zinc oxide-coated glass was used. The zinc sulfide synthesis has been studied and the films are characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and a UV–VIS spectrophotometer. XRD, XPS and optical characterization confirm the zinc sulfide phase formation.

► Synthesis of ZnS using a less-hazardous precursor, di-tertiary-butyl-disulfide.
► ZnS process optimized for two types of ZnO films.
► Preliminary results for a solar cell show an efficiency of 1.09%.