Structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of SbxSey films with different compositions grown by Chemical‑molecular beam deposition method from Separate Sb and Se precursors

Abstract

SbxSey thin films were obtained by chemical-molecular beam deposition (CMBD) on soda–limeglass from high-purity Sb and Se precursors at 450 °C substrate temperature. By the exact control of separate sources temperature, SbxSey thin films with stoichiometric and different compositions were successfully obtained. The SbxSey thin films were characterized in terms of their elemental and phase composition, along with their crystal structure, using techniques such as energydispersive X-ray microanalysis, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The bandgap of the films, ranging between 1.07 and 1.26 eV, was determined by analyzing absorption spectra derived from transmittance and reflectance measurements using a spectrophotometer. The electrical properties of samples were measured by the two-probe method. The samples showed p-type conductivity at Sb/Se ≤ 0.77 and n-type conductivity at Sb/Se ≥ 0.95. From this behavior, we infer the presence of a “turning point” at Sb/Se = 0.77, which corresponds to the p-type conductivity of Sb2Se3 thin films.