Photoconductive cells from screen-printed and sintered cadmium sulfoselenide

Purpose - Screen-printing is an appropriate technique for the manufacture of large-area position-sensitive detectors. The purpose of this paper is to present simple methods of paste preparation and appropriate processing of thick films.Design methodology approach - Active layers of photoconductive cells based on doped CdS0.32Se0.68 were prepared by screen-printing and sintering at 530°C. A sulfide-selenide mixture or a mixed crystal material and propylene glycol (PG) was deposited as a paste. PG served as the temporary paste binder. Cadmium chloride was used as a fluxing agent and a donor source. Copper(II) chloride was used as an acceptor source. The effect of the paste composition and sintering time on the resistance and slope of the resistance vs illumination dependence of cells was investigated. These parameters were checked again after eight years of cell storage.Findings - The cell properties are considerably influenced by the time periods between printing, drying, and sintering. Addition of 2.3 mg Cu2 + and 17 mg Cl− per 1 g of mixed crystal CdS0.32Se0.68 enables the preparation of photoconductive cells with the slope higher than 1.2 and a very good long-term stability of cell parameters.Research limitations implications - The effect of the cell parameters' dependence on the paste, age and the time between printing and sintering rendered it impossible to make a more detailed examination after eight-year storage of samples.Originality value - The paper is of value in showing that in the prepared cells exhibit high slopes of resistance-illumination dependence. The high slope enables detection of laser pulses using only simple filtration of ambient illumination. The changes in photoconductive cell properties after eight-year storage are presented.