Nucleation and growth of ZnTe thin layers electrodeposited on ITO substrate

In order to develop materials able to guarantee optimal characteristics in terms of environmental compatibility, abundance, and photoactivity, zinc telluride (ZnTe) has become a great candidate for optoelectronic and photovoltaic device applications. In this work, on the basis of electrochemical techniques including cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry, it was found that the electrodeposition of zinc telluride (ZnTe) on indium tin oxide substrate (ITO) is a quasi-reversible reaction controlled by the diffusion process. The nucleation and growth mechanism follows the instantaneous three-dimensional process according to Scharifker and Hill model. The crystallographic structure and film morphology were studied by XRD and SEM analyses, respectively. ZnTe films have a cubic crystal structure, and they are characterized by good homogeneity. The optical measurements of the deposited films were performed, and a direct energy gap of 2.39 eV was determined by UV-visible spectroscopy.