Synthesis and band gap tuning in CdSe(1-x)Te(x) thin films for solar cell applications

Abstract

Thin films of CdSe<inf>(1-x)</inf>Te<inf>(x)</inf> (x = 0 – 1) were grown on to the glass substrates by thermal evaporation method (PVD). The effect of annealing duration on the formation of single phase ternary alloys were systematically investigated. The prepared thin films were characterized by using FE-SEM, EDS and X-ray diffractometer. The X-ray diffraction studies shows that vacuum annealed films are polycrystalline in nature, and well oriented along a preferred direction of (0 0 2) for hexagonal and along (1 1 1) for cubic crystal structure. It is observed that increase in the CdTe concentration leads to change in the crystal structure from hexagonal to cubic. The absorption coefficients and optical band gaps were evaluated from spectrometric measurements. It is observed that optical band gap can be tuned from 1.67 eV to 1.51 eV as value of x varied from 0 to 1. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd