Surface Deformation Study of the Electrodeposited Nanostructured Bi₂Te₃ and Sb₂Te₃ Thin Films by Double‐Exposure Digital Holographic Interferometry

Abstract

Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) and antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) thin films are successfully deposited on stainless steel (SS) substrate by the potentiostatic mode of electrodeposition. Herein, the focus is on surface deformation during the electrodeposition process under the effect of deposition time. This study is carried out using double‐exposure digital holographic interferometry (DEDHI) technique and the prepared optimized films are characterized for their physico‐chemical properties. The deposition potential is found out by cyclic voltammetry; it is −170 and −260 mV for Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3, respectively. The hologram fringes are recorded during the electrodeposition of films and the variations in the number of fringes, deposited mass, thickness of film, and stress to surface with respect to deposition time are studied.

Recent advances of electrodeposition of Bi2Te3and its thermoelectric applications in miniaturized power generation and cooling

“…As shown in Figure 11(a), the early reported ED processes of Bi 2 Te 3 were carried out by the potentiostatic or galvanostatic modes [136][137][138][139][140], which means that the applied potential or current density is fixed from the beginning to the end. However, the continuous deposition is unable to avoid the adverse effect of concentration polarization, thus forming small grain sizes, various orientations (Figure 11d) as well as deviated compositions [131,135,141].…”

“…The surface of WE is where the electrochemical reactions occur. There are a variety of WEs for ED of Bi 2-Te 3 , including smooth stainless steel (SSS) [138,153], conductive glasses [78,154], cuprum (Cu) [155], and platinum (Pt) [156]. In flexible electronic devices, TEDs are often integrated with other electronics on a circuit board.…”