Journal article
Potential Pulse ALD for Room Temperature Fabrication of Stoichiometric CdTe Nanofilms
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol.166(5), pp.H3249-H3256
01/2019
DOI: 10.1149/2.0061905jes
Abstract
Deposition of thin film compound semiconductors with good control over stoichiometry, crystallinity and thickness is essential for a range of diverse applications such as solar cells, photocatalysis, thermoelectrics, photodetectors, etc. In this work, nanometer-thick cadmium telluride (CdTe) films with exceptional control over its stoichiometry were electrodeposited onto Au substrates using a novel potential pulse atomic layer deposition (PP-ALD) process. The films were electrodeposited from an acidic aqueous solution of CdSO4 and TeO2 at room temperature using a flow cell electrodeposition set-up. Deposition potential and effect of solution flow were first investigated to optimize the codeposition process. Potential pulses were then subsequently introduced to achieve atomic layer deposition of CdTe. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analyzer (EDX) were used to characterize resulting CdTe films. XRD studies of the films showed the evolution of a much sharper peak corresponding to CdTe cubic (111) than is customarily observed for CdTe thin films grown at room temperature. The optimized PP-ALD method was also used to deposit CdTe on Au nanowire-array electrodes. Initial results show high-quality CdTe deposits conformally coated on Au nanowire arrays, which could open pathways for ultrathin light absorber solar energy conversion devices.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Potential Pulse ALD for Room Temperature Fabrication of Stoichiometric CdTe Nanofilms
- Creators
- Xiaoyue Zhang - University of Georgia Department of Chemistry, , USASheng Shen - University of Georgia Department of Chemistry, , USAPaulie Howell - University of Georgia Department of Chemistry, , USAWei Cheng - University of IowaSyed Mubeen - University of IowaJohn Stickney - University of Georgia Department of Chemistry, , USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol.166(5), pp.H3249-H3256
- DOI
- 10.1149/2.0061905jes
- ISSN
- 0013-4651
- eISSN
- 1945-7111
- Publisher
- The Electrochemical Society
- Number of pages
- 8
- Grant note
- 1410109 / National Science Foundation (NSF) (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000001)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2019
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering; Iowa Technology Institute; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9984197115702771
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