Electrochemical growth of CdZnTe thin films

Thin films of Cd1−xZnxTe (0.2–1 μm thick) over a wide compositional range were deposited on CVD grown SnO2 by a single step electrodeposition technique. The electrochemical bath used in this work consisted of aqueous solutions of Te reacted with nitric acid, CdCl2 and ZnCl2, to which Acetonitrile (CH3CN) was added to act as a complexing agent. Optical absorption studies, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and scanning electron micrographs (SEM) show that the grain size of the films can be controlled by means of the deposition potential. As the growth potential is varied from − 550 to − 850 mV (w.r.t. a saturated calomel electrode), the grain size decreases from about one micron to the nanometer range.