Preparation of Optical Quality ZnCdTe Thin Films by Vacuum Evaporation

A procedure to make optical quality thin films of Zn(x)Cd(1-x)Te by use ofvacuum evaporation of the ternary compound has been developed. Thestarting point was the preparation of the compound that was then usedas the source in a simple vacuum evaporation system. Thecharacteristics of a film containing 85% ZnTe (x =0.85) are presented. Electron microscope, atomic forcemicroscope, x-ray and optical spectral measurements were made. Theindex of refraction was determined at room temperature fromtransmittance measurements in the range of from 580 to 800 nm and wasfound to agree within 1% with values found by others for singlecrystals. We did this by assuming a Sellmeier equation and a knownindex of refraction at infinite wavelength. The calculation alsoyielded the roughness of the film.