Structural, optical and (photo)electrochemical properties of electrodeposited Cd-Zn-Se thin films

Abstract

<span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height: 115%;font-family:" times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";="" color:black;mso-ansi-language:en-in;mso-fareast-language:en-in;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-IN">Cadmium zinc selenide (Cd-Zn-Se) thin films have been prepared onto stainless steel and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrates by the electrodeposition technique. The structural, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the films have been studied. The X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the Cd_1-xZn_xSe(0≤ <i>x ≤ </i>1) films are polycrystalline. It has also been found that the films deposited with <i>x </i>= 0.2 and 0.7, show relatively higher extent of single crystallinity than those deposited with other compositions. The estimated direct optical gaps are found to be in the range of 1.9 to 2.5 eV and it's value increases with an increase in the value of <i>x</i>. Photoelectrochemical characterization carried out using ferriferrocyanide electrolyte shows better performance for the films deposited with <i>x </i>= 0.2 and 0.7 compositions.</span>