Preparation and characterization of electrodeposited in-doped CdTe semiconductor films

In‐doped n‐CdTe thin films have been electrodeposited at −0.35 V versus Ag/AgCl from a nitric acid solution of pH 1 containing 0.05 mol/dm3(M)Cd(NO3)2, 0.5 mM TeO2, and various concentrations of In(NO3)3. Deposited films were annealed at 350°C under N2 flow. The films were characterized with X‐ray diffraction, energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and a reflectance meter. The conductivity and the carrier concentration of the films were measured using the van der Pauw method and Hall effect measurement at room temperature. This is the first study to investigate the effect of the In(NO3)3 concentration on the composition, the crystallinity, and the electric properties of In‐doped CdTe films prepared by electrodeposition. The conductivity of the CdTe films linearly increases from 9.3 to 27.4 S/cm and the electron concentration [log(n/cm3)] increases from 3.9×1018 to 2.8×1019cm−3 as the In(NO3)3 concentration rises from 1×10−2 to 1×10−1M. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 164(3): 12– 18, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20673