Applications of CdTe. A review

Abstract

The review considers the history of CdTe in short form and delineates the applications potential for the compound. This potential is seen to arise on the one hand from a combination of various physical properties which is useful for several classes of electronic and particularly optoelectronic devices, and on the other hand from the fact that thin film fabrication and low cost starting materials could give it significant cost advantages over other semiconductors. The obvious lack of widespread application is traced to three fundamental problems : 1) Lack of control over minority carrier behavior ; 2) Erratic and non reproducible performance of thin films ; 3) Lack of good contacts to low resistivity p-type material. Some suggestions on further work in these areas are also advanced