Electrochemical deposition of ZnSe from dimethyl sulfoxide solution and characterization of epitaxial growth

In this work, we studied the conditions for the electrodeposition of ZnSe films from dimethyl sulfoxide solutions with a special focus on epitaxial growth. We examined the influence of experimental parameters such as the nature of the substrate, temperature, and hydrodynamic conditions. The investigated substrates were glass covered with SnO₂:F, molybdenum and (̄1̄1̄1) or (100) n - InP substrates. The voltammetric behavior of the Zn(II) - Se - DMSO system showed that the mechanism of ZnSe film formation is strongly dependent on the nature of the substrate. Films prepared at constant potential were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), reflection of high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and also by optical measurements. Epitaxial growth of ZnSe was obtained on (100) and (̄1̄1̄1) n-InP crystalline planes with good quality as demonstrated by RHEED patterns and TEM measurements, a result that confirms that electrodeposition provides an alternative route to obtain epitaxial films of ZnSe.