Morphology and structure of CdCl2-Containing CdTe films deposited by discrete vacuum thermal evaporation

Abstract

The impact of discrete vacuum thermal evaporation (DVTE)-produced CdTe thin films after thermal annealing and CdCl2 treatment is discussed in the present article. As a result of simultaneous DVTE of CdCl2 and CdTe, CdCl2 was added straightly into the bulk of the formed CdTe film at the 270 ◦C substrate temperature in a single procedure. The DVTE approach deposits CdTe thin films with a high crystalline structure, which can be utilized effectively for the production of high efficiency solar cell applications, according to the results of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with focused ion beam, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy measurements.