Characterization of zinc telluride thin films deposited by two-source technique and post-annealed in nitrogen ambient

Abstract

ZnTe thin films were deposited by the two-source evaporation technique on amorphous glass substrate. The deposited films were annealed under nitrogen ambient pressure. The resistivity of the film annealed under nitrogen pressure of 100 mbar was found to be less than that of as-deposited film by more than four orders of magnitude. The films structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The films' thickness and the optical properties such as refractive index, absorption coefficient and optical band gap of the films were determined from transmittance spectra in the wavelength range of 400–2000 nm. The dark electrical conductivity of the films was studied as a function of temperature to determine the DC conductivity activation energy of the films.