Intense pulsed light treatment of cadmium telluride nanoparticle-based thin films.

The search for low-cost growth techniques and processing methods for semiconductor thin films continues to be a growing area of research; particularly in photovoltaics. In this study, electrochemical deposition was used to grow CdTe nanoparticulate based thin films on conducting glass substrates. After material characterization, the films were thermally sintered using a rapid thermal annealing technique called intense pulsed light (IPL). IPL is an ultrafast technique which can reduce thermal processing times down to a few minutes, thereby cutting production times and increasing throughput. The pulses of light create localized heating lasting less than 1 ms, allowing films to be processed under atmospheric conditions, avoiding the need for inert or vacuum environments. For the first time, we report the use of IPL treatment on CdTe thin films. X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and room temperature photoluminescence (PL) were used to study the effects of the IPL processing parameters on the CdTe films. The results found that optimum recrystallization and a decrease in defects occurred when pulses of light with an energy density of 21.6 J cm(-2) were applied. SEM images also show a unique feature of IPL treatment: the formation of a continuous melted layer of CdTe, removing holes and voids from a nanoparticle-based thin film.