Electrical Properties of Hot Wall Deposited PbTe-SnTe Thin Films
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: Lead-tin telluride (PbXSn1-XTe) alloys are materials with good thermoelectric properties and also are semiconductors of current interest for possible applications as long wavelength infrared detectors. Polycrystalline telluride of the PbXSn1-XTe (0.0 ≤ X ≤ 1.0) alloys were synthesized by the direct fusion technique. The thin films of these materials were prepared by a hot wall deposition method on glass substrates at Tsub. = 230 - 330 oC and vacuum of about 10-5 Torr. The microstructure of films was characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX and AES. The thin film powder patterns matched the powder target patterns satisfactorily and indicated the absence of binary phases. The films showed a natural cubic structure. The SEM analyses show that the films are densely packed and have good mechanical adhesion. The as-grown PbXSn1-XTe films show p-type conductivity. Thermoelectric measurements of the films showed high values of room-temperature Seebeck coefficient ranging from 20 to 400 μV K-1, for SnTe to PbTe thin films, respectively. The conductivity of the films was in the range of = 3·101 – 1·104 Ω-1·cm-1. The increase of concentration of lead atoms leads to decrease of conductivity.
Source: EU PVSEC
Authors: Ivanov, V.A., Gremenok, V.F., Lazenka, V.V., Bente, K., Leontyev, V.G.
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2300328068