An economic experimental approach to optimize the microstructure and thermoelectric performance of ZnSe thin films

Current study demonstrated the growth of high quality ZnSe thin films by an economic and safer thermal evaporation method. The crystal quality of grown thin films was modulated by varying the source to substrate distance (SSD) from 5 to 15 cm with a step of 5 cm during the thermal evaporation process. XRD scans indicated the pure phase formation and SEM analysis has confirmed the uniformity and smooth surface growth of these deposited thin films. Crystallite size is found to be increased from 28.73 to 40.18 nm with the increase in SSD. Raman analysis has further confirmed the crystalline nature of grown films. Transport properties such as electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and power factor were observed to be varied with SSD. The highest values of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and power factor (260 & mu;V/C, 4.1 S/cm and 2.21344 x 10-6 W/mK2 respectively) were achieved at SSD of 10 cm.

Automated summary

This study successfully synthesized high quality ZnSe thin films using an economical and safer thermal evaporation method. By controlling the source to substrate distance (SSD) during the evaporation process, the crystal quality of the thin films was modulated. XRD scans confirmed the pure phase formation, while SEM analysis showed uniformity and smooth surface growth. The crystallite size increased from 28.73 to 40.18 nm with the increase in SSD. Raman analysis further confirmed the crystalline nature of the films. The transport properties, such as electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and power factor, varied with SSD. The highest values of Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity, and power factor (260 μV/C, 4.1 S/cm, and 2.21344 x 10-6 W/mK2 respectively) were achieved at an SSD of 10 cm.