Study of Optical, Electrical, and Structural Properties of Zinc-Doped CdTe Films by Chemical Bath Deposition

Abstract

Thin layer coatings of CdZnTe were prepared using a non-aqueous chemical bath deposition method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), photoluminescence (PL), UV-visible spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Hall effect analysis were used to examine the deposited films. Results indicates that the deposited films exhibit polycrystalline characteristics of cubic zinc-blende. Evaluations were conducted on the structural characteristics, including dislocation density, lattice constant, micro-strain, and crystallite size. The as deposited films are smooth, uniformly sized, spherical grains that are dispersed in both single-state and cluster form, according to FE-SEM and SEM results. It was found that the average crystallite size of the film was 12.33 nm and the energy gap was 2.2 eV, which is responsible for the large transmittance, and that the resistivity of the film deposited at room temperature was 5×10³ Ω.m.