Variation of Microstructure and Electrical Conductivity of Amorphous AgInSbTe and SbTe Films during Crystallization

Abstract

Two kinds of chalcogenide films with similar Sb/Te atomic ratios, AgInSbTe (AIST) and SbTe (ST) were deposited on alkali-free glass using the RF sputtering method. The microstructure characteristics of both ST and AIST films were demonstrated to correlate with the electrical properties. TEM observation and GI-XRD profiles revealed that the structures of as-deposited AIST and ST films were amorphous characteristics. The sheet resistance of the as-deposited AIST films was twice as high as that of ST films and the effect of Ag and In additives was proposed. After annealing at 523 K for 1 h, the sheet resistance of both chalcogenide films decreased by four orders of magnitude due to crystallizations and the sheet resistance of crystallized AIST film was still twice as large as that of crystallized ST film. DSC measurement was used to determine the crystallization temperature of AIST films as 476 K and that of ST films as 445 K. The activation energies of crystallization were determined using Kissinger's method, and 0.94 eV and 0.84 eV were obtained for AIST and ST films, respectively. TEM observations showed that AgSbTe 2 phase exists in the AIST film after heat treatment in addition to -Sb phase. No indium compounds were discovered in the AIST film by the energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and XRD measurements.

Structural and electrical properties of Germanium-doped Sb70Te30 eutectic thin films

“…However, the crystallization properties and structural changes in pure and Ge-doped Sb 70 Te 30 eutectic films are not fully understood so far. For example, the values reported in the literature for the activation energy for crystallization of amorphous Sb 70 Te 30 films varied in a wide range, 0.84 [9], 1.3 [10] and 2.9 [11] eV. In ref [10] it has been reported that undoped and Ge-doped Sb 70 Te 30 films (with 1.6, 5.7 and 9% of Ge) have the same Sb rhombohedral structure and according to ref.…”

Crystallization Mechanism and Raman Characteristics of ZnO/In/ZnO Thin Film Using an Electrical Current Method

“…According to previous studies, 24,25) the semi-crystallized films also possess electrical properties and can act as fullycrystallized films. For applications using TCO film with copolymer substrates, the potential of the present electrical current crystallization method seems enormous.…”

Microstructural Characteristics and the Charge-Discharge Characteristics of Sn-Cu Thin Film Materials

“…The main reason is that the number of lithium ions inserted was similar. However, the area of passive film for SC1500-H increased due to the growth of thermal cracks, 28) which caused the insertion of lithium ions to be inhibited and the cycleability to deteriorate (Fig. 10).…”

“…According to a reference, 28,29) the IOC and resistivity have an inverse tendency. The IOC and resistivity of each film are shown in Table 2, which reveals that the SC1500-H film had a higher IOC and lower resistivity.…”