Application of spectroscopic ellipsometry to study the effect of surface treatments on cadmium telluride films

Ellipsometric data are very sensitive to any changes in stoichiometry of the CdTe surface and thus have been found to be useful in understanding the role of surface treatments. CdTe thin films have been grown onto ZnO-coated glass substrates by a closed space sublimation process. The effect of these treatments on the I-V characteristics of metal-CdTe junctions has also been studied and correlated with stoichiometric changes on the CdTe surface. In this paper, the results of these investigations are presented and the contact formation process is discussed