Epitaxial and large area Sb2Te3 thin films on silicon by MOCVD*

Martino Rimoldi, Raimondo Cecchini, Claudia Wiemer, Alessio Lamperti, Emanuele Longo, Lucia Nasi, Laura Lazzarini, Roberto Mantovan and  Massimo Longo
RSC Advances, Issue 34, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA02567D

Abstract

Antimony telluride (Sb₂Te₃) thin films were prepared by a room temperature Metal–Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) process using antimony chloride (SbCl₃) and bis(trimethylsilyl)telluride (Te(SiMe₃)₂) as precursors. Pre-growth and post-growth treatments were found to be pivotal in favoring out-of-plane and in-plane alignment of the crystallites composing the films. A comprehensive suite of characterization techniques were used to evaluate their composition, surface roughness, as well as to assess their morphology, crystallinity, and structural features, revealing that a quick post-growth annealing triggers the formation of epitaxial-quality Sb₂Te₃ films on Si(111).

Footnote

* Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Additional SEM, AFM, and TEM images and characterization data. See DOI: 10.1039/d0ra02567d