Substrate preparation effects on defect density in molecular beam epitaxial growth of CdTe on CdTe (100) and (211)B

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.4994553· OSTI ID:1374257

Burton, George L. ^[1]; Diercks, David R. ^[1]; Perkins, Craig L. ^[2]; Barnes, Teresa M. ^[2]; Ogedengbe, Olanrewaju S. ^[3]; Jayathilaka, Pathiraja A. ^[3]; Edirisooriya, Madhavie ^[3]; Wang, Alice ^[4]; Myers, Thomas H. ^[3]; Gorman, Brian P. ^[1]

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1. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)
2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
3. Texas State Univ., San Marcos, TX (United States)
4. EAG Lab., Sunnyvale, CA (United States)

Recent studies have demonstrated that growth of CdTe on CdTe (100) and (211)B substrates via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) results in planar defect densities 2 and 3 orders of magnitude higher than growth on InSb (100) substrates, respectively. To understand this shortcoming, MBE growth on CdTe substrates with a variety of substrate preparation methods is studied by scanning electron microscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cross sectional transmission electron microscopy, and atom probe tomography (APT). Prior to growth, carbon is shown to remain on substrate surfaces even after atomic hydrogen cleaning. APT revealed that following the growth of films, trace amounts of carbon remained at the substrate/film interface. This residual carbon may lead to structural degradation, which was determined as the main cause of higher defect density.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S), SunShot Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency (F-PACE II); USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1374257
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1371509
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5K00-69005
• Journal Information: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics, Vol. 35, Issue 4; ISSN 2166-2746
• Publisher: American Vacuum Society/AIP
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
semiconductors
epitaxy
thin film deposition
metalloids
materials treatment