Abstract
CdTe thin film growth using nanoparticle precursors and spray deposition has been investigated. Employing a metathesis approach, cadmium iodide was reacted with sodium telluride in methanol solvent resulting in the formation of soluble NaI and insoluble CdTe nanoparticles. After appropriate chemical workup, methanol-capped CdTe colloids were isolated. CdTe colloids prepared by this method exhibit a dependence of the nanoparticle diameter upon reaction temperature as determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). CdTe thin film formation was achieved by spray depositing the nanoparticle colloids (25-75 angstroms diameter) onto substrates at elevated temperatures (T = 280-440 °C) with no further thermal treatment. These films were characterized by XRD, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Cubic CdTe phase formation was observed by XRD with a contaminant oxide phase also detected. XPS analysis showed that CdTe films produced by this one-step method contained no Na or C, but substantial O. AFM gave CdTe grain sizes of approximately 0.1-0.3 μm for films sprayed at 400 °C. A layer-by-layer film growth mechanism proposed for the one-step spray deposition of nanoparticle precursors will be discussed.
Original language | American English |
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Pages | 349-354 |
Number of pages | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1996 |
Event | Proceedings of the 1996 MRS Spring Symposium - San Francisco, CA, USA Duration: 8 Apr 1996 → 11 Apr 1996 |
Conference
Conference | Proceedings of the 1996 MRS Spring Symposium |
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City | San Francisco, CA, USA |
Period | 8/04/96 → 11/04/96 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-23036