Fabrication of Si/CdTe Heterostructure via Vacuum Thermal Evaporation: Synthesis and Properties Characterization

Ibrokhim Sapaev; Sadulla Sadullayev; Utkurjon Rakhmonov

doi:10.48084/etasr.12869

Authors

Ibrokhim Sapaev Physics and Chemistry Department, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers, National Research University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan | University of Tashkent for Applied Sciences, Str. Gavhar 1, Tashkent 100149, Uzbekistan | School of Engineering, Central Asian University, Tashkent 111221, Uzbekistan | Western Caspian University, Baku, Azerbaijan | Baku Eurasian University, Baku, AZ 1073, Azerbaijan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2365-1554
Sadulla Sadullayev Fundamental and Applied Research Institute, Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers, National Research University, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2444-4055
Utkurjon Rakhmonov S.A. Azimov Physical-Technical Institute of Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Uzbekistan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4774-1247

Volume: 15 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 29464-29474 | December 2025 | https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.12869

Received: 21 June 2025 | Revised: 6 September 2025 and 13 September 2025 | Accepted: 15 September 2025 | Online: 8 December 2025

Corresponding author: Sadulla Sadullayev

Abstract

This study focuses on the investigation of a heterostructure fabricated using the Vacuum Thermal Evaporation (VTE) technique and presents the X-ray structural analysis of the compound obtained using the VTE method. The study also determines the optimum pressure and temperature for the production of silicon cadmium tellurium compound. The analysis showed that the Silicon–Cadmium Telluride (nSi–pCdTe) heterojunction, formed on a silicon substrate, consists of a CdTe epitaxial layer with an estimated thickness of approximately 10 μm, followed by a 2–3 μm interfacial transition region at the CdTe/Si interface. The heterostructure of nSi-pCdTe current-voltage (I–V) characteristics, capacitance-voltage (C–V), and spectral features were the main subjects of the investigation.

Keywords:

CdTe, heterostructure, VTE, epitaxy, IV characteristics, spectral characteristics, heterojunction

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

W. Si et al., "Recent Advances in Broadband Photodetectors from Infrared to Terahertz," Micromachines, vol. 15, no. 4, Mar. 2024, Art. no. 427. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15040427

W. W. Moses, "Photodetectors for Nuclear Medical Imaging," Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 610, no. 1, pp. 11–15, Oct. 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2009.05.032

T. Ma et al., "Recent Progress in Photodetectors: From Materials to Structures and Applications," Micromachines, vol. 15, no. 10, Oct. 2024, Art. no. 1249. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15101249

P. Sinha, "Life Cycle Materials and Water Management for CdTe Photovoltaics," Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, vol. 119, pp. 271–275, Dec. 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2013.08.022

M. A. Green, K. Emery, Y. Hishikawa, W. Warta, and E. D. Dunlop, "Solar Cell Efficiency Tables (version 43)," Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 1–9, Jan. 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2452

G. Yang, B.-J. Kim, D. Kim, and J. Kim, "Single CdTe Microwire Photodetectors Grown by Close-spaced Sublimation Method," Optics Express, vol. 22, no. 16, Aug. 2014, Art. no. 18843. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.22.018843

A. Diaz, S. A. Quinones, and D. A. Ferrer, "Selective CdTe Nanoheteroepitaxial Growth on Si(100) Substrates Using the Close-Spaced Sublimation Technique Without the Use of a Mask," Journal of Electronic Materials, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1092–1100, June 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-013-2519-x

R. N. Jacobs et al., "Dynamic Curvature and Stress Studies for MBE CdTe on Si and GaAs Substrates," Journal of Electronic Materials, vol. 44, no. 9, pp. 3076–3081, Sept. 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-015-3822-5

W. W. Pan et al., "Defect Engineering in MBE-Grown CdTe Buffer Layers on GaAs (211)B Substrates," Journal of Electronic Materials, vol. 51, no. 9, pp. 4869–4883, Sept. 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-022-09725-1

Y. Jung, S. Chun, D. Kim, and J. Kim, "Growth of p-CdTe Thin Films on n-GaN/Sapphire," Journal of Crystal Growth, vol. 326, no. 1, pp. 69–72, July 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2011.01.054

K.-C. Kim et al., "Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition of CdTe(133) Epilayers on Si(211) Substrates," Journal of Electronic Materials, vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 863–867, July 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-010-1220-6

H. Peng et al., "High-Quality Perovskite CH3NH3PbI3 Thin Films for Solar Cells Prepared by Single-Source Thermal Evaporation Combined with Solvent Treatment," Materials, vol. 12, no. 8, Apr. 2019, Art. no. 1237. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12081237

P. K. K. Kumarasinghe, A. Dissanayake, B. M. K. Pemasiri, and B. S. Dassanayake, "Thermally Evaporated CdTe Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications: Optimization of Physical Properties," Materials Research Bulletin, vol. 96, pp. 188–195, Dec. 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2017.04.026

R. Venkatesh et al., "Performance Study of Cadmium Telluride Solar Cell Featured with Silicon Thin Film Made by Sol-Gel Route," Silicon, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 191–203, Jan. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-024-03179-2

F. Mavromatakis, Y. Franghiadakis, and F. Vignola, "Modeling Photovoltaic Power," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 1115–1118, Oct. 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.612

W. F. Mohammed, O. Daoud, and M. Al-Tikriti, "Power Conversion Enhancement of CdS/CdTe Solar Cell Interconnected with Tunnel Diode," Circuits and Systems, vol. 03, no. 03, pp. 230–237, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/cs.2012.33032

K. C. Rathod et al., "Effect of Temperature on Photovoltaic Solar Cell Cadmium Telluride Thin Film," Advances in Materials Physics and Chemistry, vol. 13, no. 01, pp. 1–15, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ampc.2023.131001

F. Mavromatakis, G. Viskadouros, H. Haritaki, and G. Xanthos, "Photovoltaic Systems and Net Metering in Greece," Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 3168–3171, Aug. 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.2197

S. Chander and M. S. Dhaka, "Preparation And Physical Characterization Of CdTe Thin Films Deposited By Vacuum Evaporation For Photovoltaic Applications," Advanced Materials Letters, vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 907–912, Oct. 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5185/amlett.2015.5926

G. Richhariya, A. Kumar, and Samsher, "Solar Cell Technologies," in Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion, S. Gorjian and A. Shukla, Ed., Elsevier, 2020, pp. 27–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819610-6.00002-8

A. K. Papikyan, V. A. Gevorgyan, N. R. Mangasaryan, and P. P. Gladyshev, "Characterization of Vacuum Flash Evaporated CdTe Thin Films for Solar Cell Application," Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 945, p. 012013, Jan. 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/945/1/012013

M. H. Dizaj and A. Assari, "Using Tandem Method in Cadmium-Telluride Cells to Increase Solar Cell Efficiency," in 8th international conference on applied researches, Aachen, Germany, Sept. 2024.

G. A. Il’chuket al., "Photosensitivity of n-CdS/p-CdTe Heterojunctions Obtained by Chemical Surface Deposition of CdS," Semiconductors, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 318–320, Mar. 2010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063782610030085

S. O. Kognovitskii, A. V. Nashchekin, R. V. Sokolov, I. P. Soshnikov, and S. G. Konnikov, "Fullerene-containing C60-CdTe(CdSe) Composite Nanostructures," Technical Physics Letters, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 477–479, June 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1589563

R. Yavorskyi, L. Nykyruy, G. Wisz, P. Potera, S. Adamiak, and Sz. Górny, "Structural and Optical Properties of Cadmium Telluride Obtained by Physical Vapor Deposition Technique," Applied Nanoscience, vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 715–724, July 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-018-0872-z

H. M. Ali and M. H. Mustafa, "Optimization physical Properties of CdTe /Si Solar Cell Devices Fabricated by Vacuum Evaporation," Chalcogenide Letters, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 431–437, July 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15251/CL.2023.206.431

S. R. Bera and S. Saha, "Fabrication of CdTe/Si Heterojunction Solar Cell," Applied Nanoscience, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 1037–1042, Oct. 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-015-0516-5

J. P. Reithmaier, P. Petkov, W. Kulisch, and C. Popov, Eds., Nanostructured Materials for Advanced Technological Applications. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9916-8

H. Huang and S. Abbaszadeh, "Recent Developments of Amorphous Selenium-Based X-Ray Detectors: A Review," IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 1694–1704, Feb. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2019.2950319

A. G. Milnes and D. L. Feucht, Introduction to Semiconductor Heterojunctions, New York City, NY, USA: Academic Press, 1972. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-498050-1.50007-6

S. O. Sadullaev, I. B. Sapaev, and K. E. Abdikarimov, "Modeling and Theoretical Study of p-n Heterojunctions Based on CdTe/Si: Band Alignment, Carrier Transport, and Temperature-Dependent Electrophysical Properties," East European Journal of Physics, no. 1, pp. 211–216, Mar. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/2312-4334-2025-1-22

I. B. Sapaev and S. O. Sadullaev, "Capacitance-voltage Characteristics and Electrostatic Field Distribution in CdTe/Si Heterojunctions: Temperature Dependence and Theoretical Modeling," Materials Research Express, vol. 12, no. 5, p. 055903, May 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/add088

P. Bhattacharya and D. N. Bose, "Pulsed Laser Deposition of CdTe Thin Films for Heterojunctions on Silicon," Semiconductor Science and Technology, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 384–387, May 1991. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/0268-1242/6/5/012

Y. Lo, R. N. Bicknell, T. H. Myers, J. F. Schetzina, and H. H. Stadelmaier, "Growth of CdTe Films on Silicon by Molecular Beam Epitaxy," Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 54, no. 7, pp. 4238–4240, July 1983. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.332529

R. Sporken et al., "Selective Epitaxy of Cadmium Telluride on Silicon by MBE," Journal of Electronic Materials, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 760–764, June 2000. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-000-0221-2

D. J. Smith et al., "Growth and Characterization of CdTe/Si Heterostructures—Effect of Substrate Orientation," Materials Science and Engineering: B, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 93–100, Aug. 2000. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-5107(00)00480-3

A. U. Yimamu et al., "Influence of Growth Time on the Properties of CdTe Thin Films Grown by Electrodeposition using Acetate Precursor for Solar Energy Application," Materials Research Express, vol. 10, no. 5, p. 056403, May 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/acd322