Abstract
Optical and electrical properties of lapped, mechanically polished, and etched cadmium telluride surfaces have been studied by ellipsometry, infrared transmission, reflectivity, and sheet resistance measurements. They have been related to the characteristics of Schottky barriers realized by deposition of gold on these surfaces. These experiments indicate that the electrical behaviour of devices made of cadmium telluride critically depends on the surface damages produced during the sample preparation: while good diodes can be made when bromine in methanol etching is used, lapping and polishing produce a disturbed layer of poor electrical and optical properties whose thickness is related to the size of the abrasive powder used during the preparation.
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It can be noticed here that the statement “mechanical polishing” is somewhat ambiguous as depending on the size of the last abrasive used it can be associated with a rough lapping or with a fine optical polish. In addition, this size very often is not indicated by the author
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