Epitaxial growth of CdTe oriented thin films, infrared characterization and possible applications to photo-voltaic cells

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Abstract
The growth of CdTe oriented thin films by the ENSH method - i.e. Epitaxial Nucleation in Sub-microscopic Holes of an intermediate layer closely applied on a bulk single crystal — has been recently described. The CdTe films are generally difficult to detach from the bulk crystal. However free films are needed to study the infrared transmission in the spectral region of high absorption. To get them, the vitreous or amorphous thin intermediate layers are substituted by quite soluble an oriented NaCl layer grown from phase vapour on a (111) CdTe bulk crystal surface. The X-ray diffraction and Laue patterns show that the CdTe thin film grown on the NaCl intermediate layer is (111) oriented, and also the NaCl layer which covers the (111) CdTe bulk crystal surface. The far infrared transmission spectra obtained through the oriented CdTe films give directly the TO phonon frequency for q = 0 with accuracy