Potentiostatic electrochemical deposition of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films were carried out from an electrolytic bath containing 200 mM CdCl2 and 5 mM TeO2 in an alkaline, 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride (BMImCl) ionic liquid bath at deposition temperatures varying in the range of 80 to 145 oC. Cathodic electrodeposition was performed at a constant applied potential of -1.45 V vs. platinum wire as the quasi reference electrode, fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) as the working electrode and platinum mesh as the counter electrode, in a typical three electrode electrochemical cell. The modification on the morphology and elemental composition of CdTe deposits onto FTO substrate has been presented. SEM and EDAX analysis were used to determine the morphology and composition of CdTe deposits. Nearly stoichiometric CdTe nanostructures were present at all deposition temperatures. A compact deposit of CdTe with rich in Cd content was observed for higher deposition temperature (145 oC) whereas, porous and Te rich phase of CdTe was obtained at lower deposition temperatures (80, 100, & 120 oC). It was also observed from SEM micrographs that there was an increase in the length and diameter for one dimensional CdTe nanostructures as the deposition temperature increased from 80 to 120 oC. However, the length and diameter of CdTe nanostructures remained almost identical when the deposition temperature was increased from 120 to 145 oC.

Influence of deposition temperature on the morphology of electro-deposited CdTe thin films from BMImCl medium

254th National Meeting (2017)

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