Effect of Bi doping on the properties of CdSe thin films for optoelectronic device applications

CdSe and Bi (1%, 2%, 3%) doped CdSe thin films were deposited on the glass substrates using thermal evaporation technique. Effect of Bi doping on the structural, optical, electrical and photo response properties of CdSe thin films were investigated. The X-ray diffraction studies reveals that undoped and Bi doped CdSe films are polycrystalline in nature with hexagonal crystal structure along (002) direction. No significant changes are observed in the lattice parameters or the grain size indicating minimum lattice distortion. The optical band gap of undoped CdSe film was estimated to be 1.67 eV. Replacement of cadmium by bismuth results in an increase in the electrical conductivity of doped films. Doping with bismuth is found to improve the photo sensitivity of CdSe thin films.