Our society largely relies on inorganic semiconductor devices which are, so far, fabricated using expensive and complex processes requiring ultra-high vacuum equipment. Here we report on the possibility of growing a p-n junction taking advantage of electrochemical processes based on the use of aqueous solutions. The growth of the junction has been carried out using the Electrochemical Atomic Layer Deposition (E-ALD) technique, which allowed to sequentially deposit two different semiconductors, CdS and Cu2S, on an Ag(111) substrate, in a single procedure. The growth process was monitored in situ by Surface X-Ray Diffraction (SXRD) and resulted in the fabrication of a thin double-layer structure with a high degree of crystallographic order and a well-defined interface. The high-performance electrical characteristics of the device were analysed ex-situ and show the characteristic feature of a diode.
On the Electrochemical Growth of a Crystalline p‐n Junction From Aqueous Solutions / Felici, R., Baroni, T., Carlà, F., Cioffi, N., Di Benedetto, F., Fontanesi, C., Giaccherini, A., Giurlani, W., Gonidec, M., Lavacchi, A., Berretti, E., Marcantelli, P., Montegrossi, G., Bonechi, M., Picca, R.A., Poggini, L., Russo, F., Sportelli, M.C., Torsi, L., Innocenti, M.. - In: CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL. - ISSN 0947-6539. - 30:42(2024). [10.1002/chem.202401403]
On the Electrochemical Growth of a Crystalline p‐n Junction From Aqueous Solutions
Russo, Francesca;
2024-01-01
Abstract
Our society largely relies on inorganic semiconductor devices which are, so far, fabricated using expensive and complex processes requiring ultra-high vacuum equipment. Here we report on the possibility of growing a p-n junction taking advantage of electrochemical processes based on the use of aqueous solutions. The growth of the junction has been carried out using the Electrochemical Atomic Layer Deposition (E-ALD) technique, which allowed to sequentially deposit two different semiconductors, CdS and Cu2S, on an Ag(111) substrate, in a single procedure. The growth process was monitored in situ by Surface X-Ray Diffraction (SXRD) and resulted in the fabrication of a thin double-layer structure with a high degree of crystallographic order and a well-defined interface. The high-performance electrical characteristics of the device were analysed ex-situ and show the characteristic feature of a diode.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione
