Pulsed electrodeposition of bismuth telluride films: Influence of pulse parameters over nucleation and morphology

Pulsed electrodeposition methods were applied to the preparation of bismuth telluride films. Over the potential ranges from -170 mV to -600 mV, the formation of Bi(2)Te(3) nuclei proceeded through a three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation mode. The nuclei densities for several values of potential were ranged between similar to 10(6) nuclei cm(-2) and similar to 10(8) nuclei cm(-2). For a pulsed galvanostatic electroplating, the best covering percentage and a stoichiometry close to the desired Bi(2)Te(3) were obtained with the parameters t(on), t(off) and J(c), respectively, equal to 10 ms, 1000 ms and -100mA cm(-2). (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.