Abstract
Radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering was used to deposit tungsten disulfide (WS
2
) thin films on top of soda lime glass substrates. The deposition power of RF magnetron sputtering varied at 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 W to investigate the impact on film characteristics and determine the optimized conditions for suitable application in thin-film solar cells. Morphological, structural, and opto-electronic properties of as-grown films were investigated and analyzed for different deposition powers. All the WS
2
films exhibited granular morphology and consisted of a rhombohedral phase with a strong preferential orientation toward the (101) crystal plane. Polycrystalline ultra-thin WS
2
films with bandgap of 2.2 eV, carrier concentration of 1.01 × 10
19
cm
−3
, and resistivity of 0.135 Ω-cm were successfully achieved at RF deposition power of 200 W. The optimized WS
2
thin film was successfully incorporated as a window layer for the first time in CdTe/WS
2
solar cell. Initial investigations revealed that the newly incorporated WS
2
window layer in CdTe solar cell demonstrated photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 1.2% with V
oc
of 379 mV, J
sc
of 11.5 mA/cm
2
, and FF of 27.1%. This study paves the way for WS
2
thin film as a potential window layer to be used in thin-film solar cells.