Shallow levels in the band gap of CdTe films deposited on metallic substrates

CdTe thin films were developed on flexible metallic substrates using close spaced sublimation and electrodeposition techniques. The films were nearly stiochiometric, highly uniform and exhibit good crystallinity. The films were characterized using XRD, SEM and AUGER. The shallow levels in the band gap of CdTe were determined using photoluminescence and photoinduced current transient spectroscopy. The photoluminescence studies revealed a defect dominated CdTe surface. The two lines detected at 1.587 and 1.589 eV at 15 K are assigned to the donor levels associated with Cl at the Te sites. The additional features observed in the photoluminescence spectra of the CdCl₂ treated films revealed that the CdCl₂ treatment improves the quality of the films and the close space sublimated films are better than the electrodeposited films. The photoinduced current transient spectroscopic technique was effectively used to identify the electron and hole traps. Two shallow levels with activation energy 0.056 and 0.13 eV were detected and assigned to electron and hole traps, respectively.