Influence of the Conditions of the Chemical Bath Deposition of Thin ZnSe Films on Their Morphology and Internal Mechanical Stresses

Abstract

ZnSe films up to 2300 nm thick on glass-ceramic supports were prepared by chemical bath deposition in the ZnCl2–Na2EDTA–NaOH–NH2OH·HCl system using sodium selenosulfate as a chalcogenizer. The reflections observed in the X-ray diffraction patterns correspond to the ZnSe (stilleite) phase of cubic (space group F $$\overline 4 $$ 3m) structure with a = 5.610 ± 0.002 A. As shown by electron-microscopic examination, ZnSe films consist of globular formations tightly adjoining to each other with the mean size of 250–400 nm depending on the deposition conditions. Elemental EDX analysis shows that the films contain, on the average, 43.68 at. % Zn, 30.50 at. % Se, and 25.82 at. % O, with the oxygen concentration somewhat decreasing at a depth of 30 nm. The internal mechanical compression stresses caused by the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of the ZnSe film and glass-ceramic support were calculated; these stresses depend on the film thickness and at ~1040 nm reach–30.62 kN m–2. The results obtained make it possible to exclude film discontinuities, which can appear with increasing film thickness in preparation of precursor layers, and to choose the optimum support material.