Electrical properties of CdTe layers electrodeposited from ammoniacal basic electrolytes

The electrical properties of polycrystalline CdTe layers electrodeposited from ammoniacal basic electrolytes were examined by resistivity and Hall effect measurements. As-prepared CdTe layers electrodeposited in the dark and under illumination were both found to be p-type with resistivity of 10(7)- 10(9) Omega cm, carrier density of 10(9)-10(11) cm(-3), and mobility ca. 1 cm(2) V-1 s(-1). By decreasing the Cd(II) concentration of the electrolytes, the Cd content of the CdTe layer slightly decreased and the carrier density increased correspondingly, whereas deposition potential did not affect the electrical properties. The temperature dependence of the resistivity revealed that the activation energy of conductivity was 0.67 eV, which suggested that the small carrier density was attributed to a compensation effect of semiconducting CdTe compound. (C) 2003 The Electrochemical Society.