Abstract
A new synthetic route based on solution chemistry was developed for a compound semiconductor cadmium telluride (CdTe) via reduction of CdTeO3 prepared by hydrolysis of the corresponding double metal alkoxide as a starting material. The CdTe double alkoxide solution was prepared by the reaction of cadmium acetate with Te alkoxide in the presence of Na alkoxide in ethanol. Amorphous CdTeO3 was obtained by hydrolysis of the CdTe double alkoxide at room temperature and under the reflux conditions. Heat-treatment of the resulting amorphous CdTeO3 powder at 400°C and 600°C in air resulted in transformation to cubic CdTeO3 and monoclinic CdTeO3, respectively. CdTe was obtained by heat-treatment of calcined amorphous and crystallized CdTeO3 at 200-400°C in H2. The products consisted of the primary particles of about 16nm in diameters and the Cd/Te ratios were chemically stoichiometric. A CdTe film was obtained from screen-printed amorphous CdTeO3 paste on low-cost slide glass substrates by heat-treatment at 400°C in H2.
