Electrosynthesis of yttrium chalcogenides from a non-aqueous bath

In recent years, there has been much interest in chalcogenide semiconductors. Especially rare earth chalcogenides show most interesting semiconducting properties. In the present investigation, we report for the first time, the electrosynthesis of yttrium chalcogenide films on a variety of substrates in a non-aqueous bath, using sodium acetate as a complexing agent. The electrodeposition potentials are estimated from the polarization curves. The films are characterized by optical absorption, scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction techniques and the results obtained have been reported.