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Wet-electrochemical growth of CdTe layers for photovoltaic applications

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Abstract

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films have been prepared using a low-cost potentiostatic electrochemical technique from an aqueous electrolyte. A standard three-electrode geometry was employed for the deposition of the samples. The possible growth potentials for the electrodeposition of CdTe were optimized using cyclic voltammetry. The samples were grown at potentials − 0.5, − 0.6, and− 0.7 V with respect to Ag/AgCl reference electrode and annealed at 450 °C for 20 min. The optical, structural, morphological, compositional, and electrical properties were studied with a range of analytical techniques. The as-prepared samples exhibited amorphous behavior and the polycrystalline nature with cubic crystal structure was revealed after annealing. The annealed sample grown at -0.7 V exhibits pure CdTe reflections without the TeO2 phase. The Raman analysis confirms the reduction in the A1 mode of Te systematically with increasing the growth potential and vanishes completely for the sample grown at − 0.7 V. Uniform, densely packed, and spherical surface morphology with stoichiometric CdTe (Cd:Te composition ratio 1:1) layers were obtained at − 0.7 V. The Te–Cd and Te–O bonds were revealed in XPS core-level spectra; however, the increased peak intensity ratio of Te 3d5/2 and Te 3d3/2 confirms the reduction of the TeO2 phase in CdTe. The increased carrier concentration and flat band potential calculated for the sample grown at − 0.7 V demonstrate the growth of low-defective and highly crystalline CdTe layers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support received from SERB, ISRO, and UGC-DAE.

Funding

Science and engineering research board,Indian Space Research Organisation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Savitribai Phule Pune University (Formerly University of Pune), Pune, 411007, India

    Aparna Ukarande, Shivaji M. Sonawane & Nandu B. Chaure

  2. Department of Physics, College of Engineering, Pune, 411005, India

    Shweta Chaure

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  1. Aparna Ukarande
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Contributions

AU: Material preparation, data collection, formal analysis, and the writing of the first draft of the manuscript. SMS: Contributed to the experimentation, data collection, and formal analysis. SC: Conceptualization, Writing—Review & Editing, Project administration, Funding acquisition, Supervision. NBC: Conceptualization, Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Nandu B. Chaure.

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Ukarande, A., Sonawane, S.M., Chaure, S. et al. Wet-electrochemical growth of CdTe layers for photovoltaic applications. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 22456–22468 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09022-x

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