Fabrication of Ag₂SeTe thin films by thermal evaporation

Abstract

Semiconducting silver selenide telluride (Ag₂SeTe) ternary thin films of different thicknesses were synthesised employing thermal evaporation. The variation in structure of the films with thickness was estimated using X-ray diffraction studies. The thin films of lower thickness were amorphous, and at higher thickness, they were polycrystalline in nature with orthorhombic structure. The film crystallinity increased with increase in thickness. Increase in thickness beyond 320 nm caused the appearance of new peaks with increased intensity. The structural studies on typical Ag₂Se_0·2Te_0·8 system revealed that the stoichiometry of the bulk corresponded to that of the thin films. Micro-Raman spectra of the Ag₂Se_0·2Te_0·8 thin films were recorded and analysed. The optical image of Ag₂Se_0·2Te_0·8 thin films was also studied. The topography of the thin film was studied using atomic force microscopy. The results are presented.

Keywords:

• Ag₂SeTe
• Thin films
• Thermal evaporation
• XRD
• AFM
• Micro-Raman
• Spectroscopy