Study of Near Band Edge Emission Spectra and Conductivity Transformation in Fe‐Doped Cadmium Telluride Nanoparticles for the Device Applications

Abstract The research work discussed here explains the near band edge emission and conductivity transformation of the Fe‐doped CdTe nanoparticles synthesized by hydrothermal method by using an autoclave. The size of the undoped CdTe nanoparticles is found to be 5.48, 8.45, 9.40, and 14.79 nm, respectively for the nanoparticles collected at 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes of duration of the synthesis. Whereas for the Fe‐doped CdTe nanoparticles, the size is found to be 12.81, 16.9, and 18.5 nm, respectively for the 10%, 20%, and 30% Fe concentrations as doping elements in CdTe nanoparticles. The XPS spectra clearly show the successful doping of Fe in the CdTe QDs and also the orbital state of Fe in CdTe. The EDAX spectra is taken to trace the elements present in the synthesized nanoparticles. From the UV–vis absorption spectrum, the band gap is found to decrease when doped with Fe in different concentrations. Also, an appreciable blue shift is found in the as synthesized undoped and Fe‐doped CdTe NPs. A near band edge emission property is observed for the Fe‐doped CdTe NPs when doped with different Fe concentrations. The van der Pauw Hall measurement technique is employed to study the electrical properties such as conductivity, carrier concentration, mobility, and Hall coefficient of the undoped and Fe‐doped CdTe nanoparticles. The consistent p‐type conductivity is observed for the undoped CdTe nanoparticles till the time duration of 45 minutes of synthesis. When doped with Fe in 30% concentration, the type of conductivity is found to transform from p‐type to n‐type. The luminescence property between 450 and 500 nm makes these materials suitable for device applications like light‐emitting diodes. Also, the study of Hall measurement here explains the application of these materials as photovoltaic cells.