Structural and optical properties of CdTe-nanocrystals thin films grown by chemical synthesis

By mans of a chemical synthesis technique stoichiometric CdTe-nanocrystals thin films were prepared on glass substrates at 70 °C. First, Cd(OH)₂ films were deposited on glass substrates, then these films were immersed in a growing solution prepared by dissolution of Te in hydroxymethane sulfinic acid to obtain CdTe. The structural analysis indicates that CdTe thin films have a zinc-blende structure. The average nanocrystal size was 19.4 nm and the thickness of the films 170 nm. The Raman characterization shows the presence of the longitudinal optical mode and their second order mode, which indicates a good crystalline quality. The optical transmittance was less than 5% in the visible region (400–700 nm). The compositional characterization indicates that CdTe films grew with Te excess.     

New developments in CdTe and CdZnTe detectors for X and γ-ray applications

There has been considerable recent progress in II-VI semiconductor material and in methods for improving performance of the associated radiation detectors. New high resistivity CdZnTe material, new contact technologies, new detector structures, new electronic correction methods have opened the field of nuclear and x-ray imaging for industrial and medical applications. The purpose of this paper is to review new developments in several of these fields. In addition, we will present some recent results at LETI concerning first the CdTe 2-D imaging system (20 × 30 mm² with 400 × 600 pixels) for dental radiology and second the CdZnTe fast pulse correction method applied to a 5 × 5 × 5 mm³ CdZnTe detector (energy resolution = 5% for detection efficiency of 85% at 122 keV) for medical imaging.     

Interdiffusion behavior of Hg in HgTe/CdTe superlattices grown on Cd0.96Zn0.04 Te (211)B substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Double-crystal x-ray rocking curve (DCRC) and secondary-ion mass-spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements have been performed to investigate the effect of rapid thermal annealing on the interdiffusion behavior of Hg in HgTe/CdTe superlattices grown on Cd_0.96Zn_0.04Te (211)B substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The sharp satellite peaks of the DCRC measurements on a 100-period HgTe/CdTe (100Å/100Å) superlattice show a periodic arrangement of the superlattice with high-quality interfaces. The negative direction of the entropy change obtained from the diffusion coefficients as a function of the reciprocal of the temperature after RTA indicates that the Hg diffusion for the annealed HgTe/CdTe superlattice is caused by an interstitial mechanism. The Cd and the Hg concentration profiles near the annealed HgTe/CdTe superlattice interfaces, as measured by SIMS, show a nonlinear behavior for Hg, originating from the interstitial diffusion mechanism of the Hg composition. These results indicate that a nonlinear interdiffusion behavior is dominant for HgTe/CdTe superlattices annealed at 190°C and that the rectangular shape of HgTe/CdTe superlattices may change to a parabolic shape because of the intermixing of Hg and Cd due to the thermal treatment.     

Growth and characterization of hot-wall epitaxial CdTe on (111) HgCdTe and CdZnTe substrates

Thin CdTe films were deposited by hot-wall epitaxy (HWE) on (111) HgCdTe and CdZnTe substrates at temperatures from about 140 to 335°C. X-ray rocking curves were used to show that crystal quality of the CdTe (111)B films improved as substrate temperature increased from 140 to about 250°C. Rocking curve values for full width at half maximum (FWHM) decreased from 2–4 degrees at 140–150°C to less than 100 arc-s at 250°C, and a FWHM of 59 arc-s was the lowest value observed near 250°C. The FWHM of the HWE CdTe was found to be insensitive to growth rate below about 400Å/min, but increased to four degrees at 1250Å/min. X-ray diffraction confirmed that films grown on the B-face at higher temperatures were epitaxial, but contained a significant volume fraction, 35% to 50%, of rotational in-plane twins. Electron microscopy confirmed a coarse twin density, and photoluminescence spectra showed an absence of excitonic emission in the HWE films. Simultaneous growth on two (111) HgCdTe substrates with different surface polarities between 230°C and 335°C showed that deposition rate on the A-face decreased relative to that on the B-face as temperature increased. Films grown on the B-face exhibited better surface morphologies than those grown on the A-face.     

Strategies to increase CdTe solar-cell voltage

There is a significant difference in performance between today's highest efficiency of CdTe solar cells and single-crystal cells of comparable band gap. The largest contribution to this difference is the voltage, where the values for the best CdTe cells are about 230 mV below the best GaAs cells when an appropriate adjustment is made for band gap. CdTe voltage and fill-factor are currently compromised by low recombination lifetime (near 1 ns), low hole density (near 10¹⁴ cm^− 3), and in some cases an excessive back-contact barrier. Numerical simulation is used to evaluate how combinations of lifetime, carrier density, back electron reflection, and interfacial properties affect voltage and cell performance. Two different strategies for improving voltage and performance are explored.     

Studies on the growth of CdTe on Si using ge interfacial layer in an organometallic vapor phase epitaxial system

Epitaxial CdTe layers were grown using organometallic vapor phase epitaxy on Si substrates with a Ge buffer layer. Ge layer was grown in the same reactor using germane gas and the reaction of germane gas with the native Si surface is studied in detail at low temperature. It is shown that germane gas can be used to “clean” the Si surface oxide prior to CdTe growth by first reducing the thin native oxide that may be present on Si. When Ge layer was grown on Si using germane gas, an induction period was observed before the continuous layer of Ge growth starts. This induction period is a function of the thickness of the native oxide present on Si and possible reasons for this behavior are outlined. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) data show negligible outdiffusion and cross contamination of Ge in CdTe.     

Selective area epitaxy of CdTe

We have performed selective area epitaxy (SAE) of CdTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy using a shadow mask technique. This technique was chosen over other SAE techniques due to its simplicity and its compatibility with multiple SAE patterning steps. Features as small as 50 microns × 50 microns were obtained with sharp, abrupt side walls and flat mesa tops. Separations between mesas as small as 20 microns were also obtained. Shadowing effects due to the finite thickness of the mask were reduced by placing the CdTe source in a near normal incidence position. Intimate contact between the mask and the substrate was essential in order to achieve good pattern definition.     

Growth condition of iodine-doped n+-CdTe layers in metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy

Iodine doping of CdTe layers grown on (100) GaAs by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) was studied using diethyltelluride (DETe) and diisopropyltelluride (DiPTe) as tellurium precursors and ethyliodine (EI) as a dopant. Electron densities of doped layers increased gradually with decreasing the growth temperature from 425°C to 325°C. Doped layers grown with DETe had higher electron densities than those grown with DiPTe. When the hot-wall temperature was increased from 200°C to 250°C at the growth temperature of 325°C, doped layers grown with DETe showed an increase of the electron density from 3.7×10¹⁶ cm⁻³ to 2.6×10¹⁸ cm⁻³. On the other hand, such an increase of the electron density was not observed for layers grown with DiPTe. The mechanisms for different doping properties for DETe and DiPTe were studied on the basis of the growth characteristics for these precursors. Higher thermal stability of DETe than that of DiPTe was considered to cause the difference of doping properties. With increasing the hot-wall temperature from 200°C to 250°C, the effective ratio of Cd to Te species on the growth surface became larger for layers grown with DETe than those grown with DiPTe. This was considered to decrease the compensation of doped iodine and to increase the electron density of layers grown with DETe. The effective ratio of Cd to Te species on the growth surface also increased with decreasing growth temperature. This was considered to increase the electron density with decreasing growth temperature.     

Thickness-dependence of stoichiometry and microstructure characteristics in correlation with conductivity type of CdTe films

CdTe films were prepared by physical vapour deposition on a substrate at room temperature (RT) as well as on a cold (LT) one using low deposition rate. The thickness-dependence of stoichiometry revealed an abrupt decrease in the Cd/Te ratio as the thickness increases. Change of thickness did not affect the type of observed (111) crystallographic texture, only the degree of preferred orientation is enhanced as the film grows. The internal strain was negligible while the crystallite size increased rapidly at small thickness (up to 400 nm), and less thickness dependence was observed with further film growth. However, thickness dependence of lattice parameters showed a minimum and a maximum at approximately 300 nm in the case of RT and LT, respectively. The observed change in conductivity from n- to p-type and its vital correlation with the stoichiometry and structural characteristics were presented. Based on thickness dependence of stoichiometry and lattice parameters as well as the conductivity type, formation and annihilation of lattice defects were considered.