Epitaxial and large area Sb2Te3 thin films on silicon by MOCVD

RSC Adv. 2020 May 27;10(34):19936-19942. doi: 10.1039/d0ra02567d. eCollection 2020 May 26.

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).