Crystal direction of CdS thin film produced by laser ablation

The crystal direction of CdS thin films produced by the laser ablation was measured using X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The results reveal that the direction of the CdS crystal depends considerably on the substrate temperature and laser energy density. The c-axis of the CdS crystal changed from perpendicular to parallel with the surface as the laser energy density increased, The parallality of c-axis may be due to the clusters included ir. the laser plume. On the other hand, the c-axis changed from parallel to perpendicular as the substrate temperature increased. This phenomenon is considered to be that the clusters on the substrate melting and re-crystallizing at the film surface due to the high temperature prevailing during laser ablation.