ELECTROCHEMICAL FABRICATION OF CADMIUM CHALCOGENIDE MICRODIODE ARRAYS

An array of over a billion parallel, 200-nm-diameter wires of CdSe can be synthesized within the pores of an alumina template membrane. These wires show a nonlinear current-voltage response characteristic of rectifying diodes, and hence this work demonstrates the largest diode array ever fabricated. The CdSe rods are made by electrochemically depositing the material onto a Ni electrode that is covered with a porous Al2O3 filtration membrane. Both CdSe and CdTe nanowires can be fabricated from the appropriate deposition bath, and CdSe/CdTe heterojunction arrays can also be made by this technique.