Amorphous Ge‐Sb‐Se thin films fabricated by co‐sputtering: Properties and photosensitivity. Issue 7 (1st February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Halenkovič, Tomáš; Gutwirth, Jan; Němec, Petr; Baudet, Emeline; Specht, Marion; Gueguen, Yann; Sangleboeuf, Jean‐Christophe; Nazabal, Virginie
• Is Part Of: Journal of the American Ceramic Society. Volume 101:Issue 7(2018)
• Page Start: 2877
• Page End: 2887
• Publication Date: 2018-02-01
• Subjects: amorphous chalcogenides -- magnetron sputtering -- optical materials/properties -- thin films; Ceramics -- Periodicals; 620.1405
• DOI: 10.1111/jace.15453
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-7820

Abstract

Abstract: Amorphous Ge–Sb–Se thin films were fabricated by a rf‐magnetron co‐sputtering technique employing the following cathodes: GeSe2, Sb2 Se3, and Ge28 Sb12 Se60 . The influence of the composition, determined by energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, on the optical properties was studied. Optical properties were analyzed based on variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry and UV‐Vis‐NIR spectrophotometry. The results show that the optical bandgap range 1.35‐2.08 eV with corresponding refractive index ranging from 3.33 to 2.36 can be reliably covered. Furthermore, morphological and topographical properties of selenide‐sputtered films studied by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy showed a good quality of fabricated films. In addition, structure of the films was controlled using Raman scattering spectroscopy. Finally, irreversible photoinduced changes by means of change in optical bandgap energy and refractive index of co‐sputtered films were studied revealing the photobleaching effect in Ge‐rich films when irradiated by near‐bandgap light under Ar atmosphere. The photobleaching effect tends to decrease with increasing antimony content.