Electrodeposition And Analysis Of Tin Selenide Films

Sn1±xSe films have been electrodeposited from aqueous solutions containing SnCl2 and ionically dissolved SeO2 or H2SeO3 and DMF solutions containing SnCl2 and molecularly dissolved selenium powder. The as-deposited films ranged from amorphous to polycrystalline and exhibited indirect or nondirect bandgaps from 0.85 to 0.95 eV. There was little difference between the appearance or material data of the films grown by the two techniques. Direct reaction between Sn++ and H2SeO3 or HSeO3_ in the aqueous solutions yielded a Se/SnxSe suspension/precipitate. Although this does not seem to have any serious effect on the deposition process, it does produce a decrease in the concentration and possibly a change in the composition of the ions in solution, as well as preventing in situ observation of the deposit and making the cleaning of the apparatus more difficult. Annealing slightly increased the Se/Sn ratio of microanalyzed layers near the substrate-deposit interface, and erased all x-ray diffraction structure. The bandgaps of the annealed films were shifted from approximately 0.9 eV to approximately 1.30 eV, consistent with the increased Se/Sn ratio. The films exhibited weak cathodic photocurents during deposition and photoconductance (ΔG/G⋍0.05) after deposition. The conductivity of Sample D (Sn0.91Se) was estimated to be on the order of 10 -4(Ω-cm)-1. Conductance-temperature plots indicated activation energies between 0.44 and 0.51 eV, probably indicative of deep acceptor levels and consistent with the p-type thermal voltage, millisecond photoconductance decay times, and the optical bandgaps. © 1986, The Electrochemical Society, Inc. All rights reserved