Effect of anions on electrodeposition of CdTe from ammoniacal basic solutions

Electrodeposition of CdTe was carried out using three kinds of ammoniacal basic solutions with different counter anions: sulfate, chloride, and nitrate ions, in order to investigate the effects of the anions on the electrodeposition behavior and on the properties of the resulting CdTe deposits. Both the chloride and nitrate solutions gave polycrystalline CdTe deposits with flat, smooth morphology under similar electrolytic conditions optimized previously for the sulfate solution. The mean crystallite size of the electrodeposited CdTe deposits was within the range of 5–20 nm; the crystallite size for the chloride solutions was larger than those from the sulfate and nitrate solutions. There was no distinct difference owing to the anions in the current densities during electrodeposition and current efficiency.