Effects of cooling method on the morphology and structure of CdZnTe film deposited by close-spaced sublimation

This paper presents the study on the influences of the final cooling processes on the morphology and micro-structure of CdZnTe film deposited via close-spaced sublimation using field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. The influences of both the cooling speed and whether mass transfer stopped during cooling after the growth stage were studied, using fast (furnace cooling, -8 K/min when T>673 K) and low (-2 K/min) cooling speeds, respectively. All the films obtained with different conditions possess zinc blende structure. Both lowering the cooling speed and stopping the mass transfer will improve the film density, decrease the roughness, and reduce the texture strength of the film. The growth during cooling suppresses the two dimensional in plane spreading of the grains that blunts their edges.