Study on mechanically alloyed tin telluride screen-printed films for optoelectronic device applications

Abstract

Narrow band gap semiconductor tin telluride (SnTe) was synthesized by mechanical alloying and its film was deposited on glass substrates by the economically and commercially feasible screen-printing technique. Deposition of the film was followed by sintering. Different analytical techniques were utilized to study the structure, surface morphology, elemental, optical and electrical characteristics of the film. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms that the film is polycrystalline in nature and exhibits rock salt type structure with preferred orientation of grains along (200) direction. EDAX spectrum confirms the presence of Sn and Te elements in the film. SEM image shows that the film exhibits uniform surface. The energy band gap of the film was determined by reflection spectra. The film is found to have a direct band gap of 0.37 eV. The dark electrical conductivity and activation energy of the film were measured in temperature range 300–380 K. Hall Effect measurement indicates that the film has p-type electrical conductivity.