Processing of CdTe thin films by intense pulsed light in the presence of CdCl2

Intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment was used for rapid thermal processing of electroplated CdTe layers, with and without CdCl2. Electroplated CdTe layers consist of small grains showing highly preferential orientation along the (111) planes. IPL processing improves the crystallinity keeping the (111) preferred orientation until an energy input threshold is reached. IPL treatment beyond this point shows a sudden structural transition within the layer with a decrease in each of the orientations. The addition of a CdCl2 treatment prior to the IPL initiates a transition from the preferred (111) orientation to randomly oriented grains throughout the film. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy were used to study the structural and morphological changes of these films.