Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Microtexture of chloride treated CdTe thin films deposited by CSS technique

  • Published:
Journal of Materials Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This work investigates the microstructural changes—especially in grain boundary structure and grain orientation distribution—in CdTe thin films deposited by close spaced sublimation at low (LT) and high temperatures (HT) and submitted to a CdCl2 heat treatment. These changes are quantitatively described by microtexture analysis, a spatial distribution of the orientation of the grains. The analysis is performed in a scanning electron microscope by means of identification of the electron back-scattered diffraction patterns from individual grains. The texture of each grain, the misorientation between grains, and coincident site lattice boundary maps are obtained. The results show that the CdCl2 treatment did not promote significant microstructural changes in HT-CdTe films, which grow with large and randomly oriented grains, and with a predominance of high-angle boundaries. On the other hand, for LT-CdTe films, this treatment promotes a substantial increase in grain size, a decreasing of preferential orientation, and an increase in the number of CSL and high-angle boundaries. These changes are considered to be a strong evidence for recrystallization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wu X, Keane JC, Dhere RG, Dehart C, Albin DS, Duda A, Gessert TA, Asher S, Levi DH, Sheldon P (2001) In: Proceedings of the 17th European photovoltaic solar energy conference, Munich, Germany, October 2001. WIP (ed), Munich, p 995

  2. Moutinho HR, Dhere RG, Al-Jassim MM, Levi DH, Kazmerski LL (1999) J Vac Sci Technol A 17(4):1793

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ferekides CS, Marinskiy D, Viswanathan V, Tetali B, Palekis V, Selvaraj P, Morel DL (2000) Thin Solid Films 361–362:520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Al-Jassim MM, Yan Y, Moutinho HR, Romero MJ, Dhere RG, Jones KM (2001) Thin Solid Films 387:246

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Moutinho HR, Dhere RG, Ballif C, Al-Jassim MM, Kazmerski LL (2000) J Vac Sci Technol A 18(4):1599

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Moutinho HR, Dhere RG, Al-Jassim MM, Ballif C, Levi DH, Swartzlander AB, Young MR, Kazmerski LL (2000) In: Proceedings of the 28th IEEE photovoltaic specialists conference, Anchorage, Alaska, September 2000. IEEE (ed), p 646

  7. Randle V (1992) Microtexture determination and its applications. The Institute of Materials, London, p 18

  8. Cruz LR, Pinto AL, Souza MS, Moutinho HR, Dhere RG (2005) In: Proceedings of the 31st IEEE photovoltaic specialists conference, Florida, USA, January 2005. IEEE (ed), p 453

  9. Humphreys FJ (1999) In: Szpunar JA (ed) Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Texture of Materials, Montreal, Canada, August 1999. NRC Research Press, p 74

  10. Humphreys FJ, Hatherly M (1995) Recrystallization and related annealing phenomena. Elsevier Science Ltd., UK

  11. Matson RJ, Hasoon FS, Jones KM, Al-Jassim MM, Tomlinson RD (1994) Progr Photovolt Res Appl 2:203

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Bonnet D (2000) Thin Solid Films 361–362:547

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank financial support of CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and the collaboration of Joel Fonseca dos Santos for milling the samples.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thin Film Laboratory, Instituto Militar de Engenharia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    João Quadros, André L. Pinto & Leila R. Cruz

  2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO, USA

    Hélio R. Moutinho & Ramesh G. Dhere

Authors
  1. João Quadros
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. André L. Pinto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hélio R. Moutinho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ramesh G. Dhere
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Leila R. Cruz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leila R. Cruz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Quadros, J., Pinto, A.L., Moutinho, H.R. et al. Microtexture of chloride treated CdTe thin films deposited by CSS technique. J Mater Sci 43, 573–579 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-007-1708-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-007-1708-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation