Structural and electrical characterizations of nanocrystalline Zn1−xCdxS (0≤x≤0.9) prepared by low cost dip coating

Thin films of nanocrystalline Zn1−xCdxS (0≤x≤0.9) were deposited by a dip coating method on glass substrates from aqueous solution containing cadmium acetate, zinc acetate and thiourea at 200 °C. The morphological, structural and electrical properties of the deposited Zn1−xCdxS thin films were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and photoluminescence (PL). To understand the predominant conduction mechanism of the nanocrystalline Zn1−xCdxS (0≤x≤0.9) thin films, DC electrical conductivity was measured in the temperature range of 300–420 K. These measurements revealed that the DC behavior of the films can be described by a one-dimensional variable range hopping (VRH) model in the entire temperature range instead of a three-dimensional variable range hopping (VRH) model. The current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics of Zn1−xCdxS (0≤x  ≤0.9) thin films shows that the current conduction is ohmic type at the low-voltage region while the charge transport phenomenon appears to be space charge limited current (SCLC) at the higher-voltage regions. The latter conduction is attributed to the presence of a discrete trapping level. Various electrical parameters were determined and studied as a function of Cd-content such as electron mobility (μ0)(μ0), density of states in conduction band (Nc), Fermi energy (EF), trap energy (Et) and trap electron density (Nt).