Structure, growth and orientation of vacuum deposited tellurium films

Abstract

A study has been made of the growth of tellurium thin films deposited onto three different substrate materials, 7059 alkali free glass, single crystal potassium bromide and single crystal calcium fluoride. The crystal structure and orientation of the tellerium films was determined using transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction techniques. The films grown on each substrate were polycrystalline with a grain size which depended on deposition parameters. Specimens prepared on amorphous glass substrates showed a high degree of c-axis orientation in the plane of the substrate, whereas those prepared on single crystal potassium bromide contained only two types of grains whose c-axes were normal to each other and lying in the plane of the substrate and whose (110) direction was normal to the substrate. Films prepared by deposition onto the (111) plane of calcium fluoride gave no evidence of oriented growth.