Tailoring the Surface Characteristics of CuSe Thin Films by Adjusting the Compositional Ratio

Abstract

Using radio frequency (RF) magnetron cosputtering, copper selenide thin films (TFs) with various ratios of Se are fabricated herein. To observe how the chemical and physical properties change based on morphology, the ratio of metallic Cu to nonmetallic Se is tuned to form multiple different compositions. The compositional percentage of the surface is determined by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Noticeable transitions of the characteristics of TFs are affected by Cu to a higher degree than Se. Larger grain sizes are observed when the Se ratio is high in Cu‐rich TFs. Most copper selenide TFs are hydrophobic and portray these characteristics the strongest when the surface Se ratio of TF is 16.62% as the contact angle with distilled water is 129°. In addition, the electrical conductivity is the highest at 2.04 (±0.13) × 107 S m−1 when the surface Se ratio is 10.95%.

Physicochemical Properties of SnTe Thin Films Dependent on Compositional Ratios

“…SnTe TFs were fabricated by depositing target materials on Si(100) substrates using a homemade RF magnetron cosputtering system. [25][26][27] Fabrication of TFs was performed in the cosputtering chamber. The base pressure of the cosputtering chamber was maintained at 2.4 Â 10 À2 Pa using two rotary pumps (RPs) and a turbo molecular pump (TMP).…”