A Two-step Method to Grow ZnSe Thin Films and to Study their Characteristics

The ZnSe material synthesised by the fusion method was used to deposit 200 nm thin layers on corning glass substrate at 300 K in a vacuum (2x10^-6 mbar). The as-deposited films were annealed at 573 K in a vacuum (1x10^-3 mbar). The obtained crystallites provide the most significant peak (MSP) along (111) orientations corresponding to a zinc blende structure. Further, the grown samples show maximum transmittance of ~ 90% in visible - NIR regions of the E M Spectrum. The layers possess the direct bandgap (E_g) of 2.02 (300 K) and 2.57 eV (573 K). The surface morphology indicates the uniform spread of nanocrystalline particles over the substrate. Thus, the obtained ZnSe films are useful as buffer/window layers in solar cell structures.