Enhancement of Initial Growth of ZnO Films on Layer-Structured Bi2Te3 by Atomic Layer Deposition

The initial growth behavior of ZnO films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on layer-structured Bi2Te3 was investigated. Despite the lack of adsorption sites on the basal plane of Bi2Te3, negligible incubation in the ALD of ZnO on Bi2Te3 was found in the temperature range from 100 to 160 degrees C, and even the enhancement of the initial growth was observed at 200 degrees C. We demonstrate that a ZnTe interfacial layer was formed in the early growth stage by the interaction between diethylzinc and Bi2Te3, which improved the nucleation of ZnO on the basal plane of Bi2Te3. These results indicate that surface modification via the interaction between a precursor and layer-structured materials is an efficient way to achieve fluent and uniform nucleation on layer-structured materials such as Bi2Te3.