1. Introduction

The data presented in this paper is related to a research article entitled “Characterization of chemically-deposited aluminum-doped CdS thin films with post-deposition thermal annealing” ¹. The data contain a description on characterization of undoped and aluminum-doped CdS thin films synthesized by chemical bath deposition method. The aged samples were characterized to know if their properties have been modified for use in solar cells ². Their characterization was carried out using various analytical techniques. All corresponding Table and Figures are provided with this article.

2. Methodology

Here, we describe the measurement to determine the properties of the thin films ^3-5 after aging. Several sets of aluminum-doped CdS thin films were grown by chemical bath deposition (CBD) on glass substrates (25 mm x 75 mm x 1 mm) using bath solutions with different concentrations of Al. The recipe to prepare undoped and doped CdS thin films is described in ¹ and ⁴, respectively. The samples were characterized by using a X ray PANnalytical X´pert Pro diffractometer, the absorbance measurements were analyzed using a Chromtech spectrophotometer CT-8600, and photoluminescence (PL) measurements were performed at RT in a Perkin Elmer Spectrofluorometer LS55. Finally, Raman spectra were recorded at room temperature using a DXR Raman spectrometer ThermoFisher Scientific. Radiation of 532 nm (2.33 eV) from diode laser was focused on the samples in a backscattering geometry.

3. Results y discussion

Figure 1 shows the XRD patterns for all synthesized samples whit different Al content. The principal (002) plane corresponds to the hexagonal crystalline phase of CdS and no other peaks have been observed, which indicates that the Al ions do not change the crystal structure of the CdS films. In addition, the crystallite size was estimated using the Scherrer´s formula ¹, D = 0.9( (( cos ()^-1, and reported in Table 1.

Figure 1 X-ray diffraction pattern from aging aluminum-doped CdS thin films synthesized by CBD method. 

The energy band gap (Eg) was calculate using the Tau plot method and reported in Table 1. Here, we observed an increase in Eg with Al content with respect to the CdS thin film. Figure 2 shows PL measurements of the thin films. The samples present emission bands that could be attributed to defect luminescence. The Raman spectra of CdS and CdS:Al thin films grown by CBD are shown in Figure 3. Here, the 1LO and 2LO phonon modes are presents.

Figure 2 PL spectra from aging aluminum-doped CdS thin films synthesized by CBD method. 

Figure 3 Raman spectra from aging aluminum-doped CdS thin films synthesized by CBD method. 

4. Value of the Data