Formation and Characterization of Sb2Te3 Nanofilms on Pt by Electrochemical Atomic Layer Epitaxy

Electrodeposition of CuInSe2 (CIS) via electrochemical atomic layer deposition (E-ALD)

The growth of stoichiometric CuInSe(2) (CIS) on Au substrates using electrochemical atomic layer deposition (E-ALD) is reported here. Parameters for a ternary E-ALD cycle were investigated and included potentials, step sequence, solution compositions and timing. CIS was also grown by combining cycles for two binary compounds, InSe and Cu(2)Se, using a superlattice sequence. The formation, composition, and crystal structure of each are discussed. Stoichiometric CIS samples were formed using the superlattice sequence by performing 25 periods, each consisting of 3 cycles of InSe and 1 cycle of Cu(2)Se. The deposits were grown using 0.14, -0.7, and -0.65 V for Cu, In, and Se precursor solutions, respectively. XRD patterns displayed peaks consistent with the chalcopyrite phase of CIS, for the as-deposited samples, with the (112) reflection as the most prominent. AFM images of deposits suggested conformal deposition, when compared with corresponding image of the Au on glass substrate.

Electrochemical aspects and structure characterization of VA-VIA compound semiconductor Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 superlattice thin films via electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy

This paper concerns the electrochemical atom-by-atom growth of VA-VIA compound semiconductor thin film superlattice structures using electrochemical atomic layer epitaxy. The combination of the Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 programs and Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 thin film superlattice with 18 periods, where each period involved 21 cycles of Bi2Te3 followed by 21 cycles of Sb2Te3, is reported here. According to the angular distance between the satellite and the Bragg peak, a period of 23 nm for the superlattice was indicated from the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum. An overall composition of Bi 0.25Sb0.16Te0.58, suggesting the 2:3 stoichiometric ratio of total content of Bi and Sb to Te, as expected for the format of the Bi2Te3/Sb2Te3 compound, was further verified by energy dispersive X-ray quantitative analysis. Both field-emission scanning electron microscopy and XRD data indicated the deposit grows by a complex mechanism involving some 3D nucleation and growth in parallel with underpotential deposition. The optical band gap of the deposited superlattice film was determined as 0.15 eV by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and depicts an allowed direct type of transition. Raman spectrum observation with annealed and unannealed superlattice sample showed that the LIF mode has presented, suggesting a perfect AB/CB bonding in the superlattice interface.

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Single-Crystalline Antimony Telluride Nanobelts

The single-crystalline Sb2Te3 nanobelts were successfully synthesized by a novel and convenient surfactant-assisted hydrothermal approach. The ionic surfactant AOT acted as the shape controller in the synthetic process. We believe that this synthetic route could be applied to obtain other low-dimensional semiconducting telluride nanostructures.