Study of ZnTe thin films deposited by r.f. sputtering

ZnTe thin films were prepared by cathodic r.f.-sputtering from a single high purity ZnTe target. The deposition rate increases with sputtering power. The ZnTe films deposited at 50 W were not well crystallized. The crystallization improves upon increasing the deposition power. Particularly, the films deposited using a power between 200 and 350 W, have a long-wavelength refractive index of 2.55 and a band gap energy of 2.26 eV. Furthermore, the as-deposited films are highly resistive and their resistance presents an activation energy of 0.48 eV in the temperature range 240 to 300 K. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.