Abstract
Intermetallic copper telluride thin films, which are important in a number of electronics fields, were electrodeposited using a potentiostatic method in low-pH aqueous electrolyte baths with various ion-source concentrations, and the electrical properties of the formed films were investigated after exfoliation from the substrate. The films were electrochemically analyzed by cyclic voltammetry, while surface and cross-sectional morphologies, compositional ratios, and electrical properties were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and Hall-effect experiments. The copper telluride thin films, which were synthesized at various potentials in each bath, exhibit different composition ratios and structures; consequently, they show a variety of electrical and thermoelectric properties, including different electrical conductivities, carrier concentrations, mobilities, and Seebeck coefficients. Among them, the thin film with a 1:1 Cu:Te ratio delivered the highest power factor due to carrier filtering at the interface between the two phases.
Highlights
Copper telluride has attracted increasing attention in recent years for potential thermoelectrics, quantum dot, battery, and plasmonics applications because of its p-type semiconductor properties (Kriegel et al, 2013; Nethravathi et al, 2014; Han et al, 2014; Zhang et al, 2016)
cyclic voltammetry (CV) revealed that the copper telluride (C1) reduction peak at around −0.1 V varies with concentration
The reduction peak shifted in the positive direction with decreasing Cu/Te bath salt ratio, which suggests that the Te underpotential deposition (UPD) reaction occurs on the Au substrate surface, as previously observed by Sorenson et al (2001), which accelerates copper telluride deposition at a more noble potential
Summary
Copper telluride has attracted increasing attention in recent years for potential thermoelectrics, quantum dot, battery, and plasmonics applications because of its p-type semiconductor properties (Kriegel et al, 2013; Nethravathi et al, 2014; Han et al, 2014; Zhang et al, 2016). Hydrothermal synthesis involves the decomposition of reactants or chemical reactions between them at high temperature and high pressure in an aqueous solution, while solvothermal synthesis is similar but involves a non-aqueous solvent (Nethravathi et al, 2014). These two synthesis methods are advantageous because they lead to nanostructures with uniform crystalline phases that
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