CdTe synthesis and crystal growth using the high-pressure Bridgman technique

•High pressure Bridgman technique is suitable to synthesize CdTe from elemental sources.•Highly volatile dopants can be efficiently incorporated into melt grown CdTe under high pressure.•High purity level in CdTe is achievable in scalable HPB melt growth process. Efficient, safe and cost-effective s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of crystal growth 2020-03, Vol.534 (C), p.125466, Article 125466
Main Authors: Al-Hamdi, Tawfeeq K., McPherson, Seth W., Swain, Santosh K., Jennings, Joshah, Duenow, Joel N., Zheng, X., Albin, D.S., Ablekim, T., Colegrove, E., Amarasinghe, M., Ferguson, Andrew, Metzger, Wyatt K., Szeles, Csaba, Lynn, Kelvin G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
A1. Doping
A1. Solubility
A2. Growth from melt
A2. Single crystal growth
B1. Cadmium compounds
B2. Semiconducting materials
B3. Solar cells
Bridgman method
Cadmium telluride
Cadmium tellurides
Crystal growth
Crystals
Gamma ray detectors
Photovoltaic cells
Purity
Raw materials
Silicon dioxide
Synthesis
Thin films
Vapor pressure
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Summary:•High pressure Bridgman technique is suitable to synthesize CdTe from elemental sources.•Highly volatile dopants can be efficiently incorporated into melt grown CdTe under high pressure.•High purity level in CdTe is achievable in scalable HPB melt growth process. Efficient, safe and cost-effective synthesis of CdTe from elements is rather challenging in silica sealed ampoules due to the high vapor pressure of Cd. In this article, we report on the integrated synthesis and crystal growth of high-purity CdTe using the high pressure Bridgman (HPB) technique that is scalable to large volumes. The process lends itself for cost competitive industrial production of polycrystalline feedstock material for photovoltaics, sensors and electro-optic applications. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) crystals exceeding 1 kg in size were synthesized from elemental Cd and Te sources with purity comparable to state-of-the-art gamma ray detector crystals. In addition, synthesis of highly-doped CdTe feedstock for thin film photovoltaics applications demonstrating effective incorporation of group V (As, Sb) dopants was achieved at growth speeds of ~500 mm/hr. The technique may be applicable to produce other II-VI compounds with volatile components.
ISSN:0022-0248
1873-5002
DOI:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2019.125466