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Influence of Air Annealing Temperature on MgI2 Activation to CdSe Thin Films

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Abstract

The activation of CdSe films with cadmium chloride (CdCl2) treatment is an important and necessary step in the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cell devices, since this treatment trims down the grain boundaries density and induces grain growth. As a substitute for CdCl2, the activation of thermally evaporated CdSe films has been carried out employing the MgI2 compound at temperatures of 200°C, 300°C, and 400°C to optimize the physical characteristics of the CdSe absorber layer. A crystallographic study reveals the coexistence of cubic and hexagonal phases where phase transformation from the (111) orientation of cubic to the (103) orientation of hexagonal CdSe is observed at activation temperatures of 200°C and 400°C. The PL measurements indicate that the intensity of the NBE emission peak (appearing at 675 nm) increases with the increasing temperature of MgI2 treatment which implicates the lessening of defects. Optical measurements show variation in the absorbance and transmittance of the CdSe layers with activation temperature, where the optical energy band gap is estimated in the 1.59–1.63 eV range. AFM images illustrate prominent hill-like surface topography where variant roughness and average grain size are observed with MgI2 activation.

Graphical Abstract

Illustration of CdSe thin films deposition, MgI2 activation treatment and characterizations.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi for financial support through extramural research project (F. No. EMR/2017/003330). DST-FIST through the Department of Physics, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur is acknowledged for XRD and AFM facilities. Authors also acknowledge the Ministry of Education, Government of India for PL facilities via RUSA 2.0 Research and Innovation project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, 313001, India

    Suman Kumari & N. Kumari

  2. Department of Physics, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, 313001, India

    Suman Kumari, D. Suthar,  Himanshu & M. S. Dhaka

  3. Department of Chemistry, R.N.R. Govt. College, Ramgarh Shekhawati, 331024, India

    Suman Kumari

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  1. Suman Kumari
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Correspondence to M. S. Dhaka.

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Kumari, S., Suthar, D., Himanshu et al. Influence of Air Annealing Temperature on MgI2 Activation to CdSe Thin Films. J. Electron. Mater. 52, 384–393 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-09998-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-09998-6

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