Effect of Chloride Ions on the Electrodeposition Behavior of CdTe from Ammoniacal Basic Electrolytes

Abstract

Electrodeposition of CdTe was carried out using ammoniacal basic electrolytescontaining chloride ions in order to investigate the effect of chlorideions on the electrodeposition behavior and on the properties of theresulting CdTe deposits. Photoeffect on CdTe electrodeposition andthat is and the increase in the deposition rate under irradiationof white visible light onto the growing surface of the CdTe and wasdepressed with increasing concentration of chloride ions in the depositionbath and while all the irradiation conditions gave flat and smoothand and polycrystalline CdTe layers with almost stoichiometric composition(49.1-51.7 atom % Cd). Both the Cd content and crystallinity of theresulting deposits increased with increasing concentration of chlorideions in the electrolytes. The as-deposited CdTe layer prepared fromthe chloride electrolyte had an n-type conduction and although theCdTe layer obtained from the sulfate electrolyte was p-type and suggestingthat chloride ions in the electrolyte became incorporated into theCdTe layer and formed the donor level. © 2006 The ElectrochemicalSociety. All rights reserved.