Preparation of semiconductor zinc telluride by photoelectrochemical deposition

With the continuous development of electronic industry, people’s demand for semiconductor materials is also increasing. How to prepare semiconductor materials with low cost, low energy consumption and high yield has become one of the hot spots of research. ZnTe is commonly used in the semiconductor industry due to its superior optoelectronic properties. Electrochemical deposition is one of the most frequently used methods to prepare ZnTe thin films. However, the traditional electrochemical deposition technology has many shortcomings, such as slow deposition rate and poor film quality. These hinder the large-scale promotion of zinc telluride electrochemical deposition technology. To solve the problems encountered in the preparation of semiconductor thin films by conventional electrochemical deposition, and based on the photoconductive properties of semiconductor materials themselves, the basic principles of photoelectrochemistry of semiconductor electrodes, and some characteristics of the electrochemical deposition process of semiconductor materials, the use of photoelectrochemical deposition method for the preparation of semiconductor materials was proposed. Firstly, the electrochemical behaviors (electrode reactions, nucleation growth and charge transport process) of the ZnTe electrodeposition under illumination and dark state conditions were studied. Then, the potentiostatic deposition of ZnTe was carried out under light and dark conditions. The phase structure, morphology and composition of the sediments were studied using X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope and other testing methods. Finally, the photoelectrochemical deposition mechanisms were analyzed. Compared with conventional electrochemical deposition, photoelectrochemical deposition increases the current density during deposition and reduces the charge transfer impedance during ZnTe deposition process. In addition, since light illumination promotes the deposition of the difficult-to-deposit element Zn, the component ratio of ZnTe thin films prepared by photoelectrochemical deposition is closer to 1:1, making it a viable and reliable approach for ZnTe production.