Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol.433, 114-121, 2016
Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy of ternary rhombohedral (Bi1-xSbx)(2) Se-3 solid solutions
We studied the metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) of (B1-xSbx)(2)Se-3 solid solution films with a different Sb content on (001) Al2O3 substrates with thin ZnSe buffer layer in the range of temperatures 250-480 degrees C. As-grown films were studied by atom force and scanning electron microscopy (AFM and SEM), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) techniques. To determine the elemental composition of the grown films, we used an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The dependencies of the crystal structure of films on the growth temperature and Sb content (0 <= x <= 1) were explored. At different growth temperatures we obtained the following bismuth compounds: the films grown at the temperature of 370 degrees C or lower consist of the pure Bi phase, whereas we got the Bi4Se3 phase at 380 degrees C, the phase BiSe at 430 degrees C and Bi2Se3 at the temperature of 460 degrees C or above. We found out that at the temperature of 480 degrees C the single-phase films of (B1-xSbx)(2)Se-3 with rhombohedral and orthorhombic lattices are realized when x is less than 0.25 and greater than 0.935, respectively. For 0.25 < x < 0.935 the grown films are composites of rhombohedral and orthorhombic phases. At the temperature of 440 degrees C we obtained films consisting of three rhombohedral phases (B1-xSbx)(4)Se-3, (Bi1-xSbx) Se and Bi. The room temperature transport properties of rhombohedral samples were characterized using the Van der Pauw technique. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Atomic force microscopy;Solid solutions;X-ray diffraction;Metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy;Bismuth compounds;Topological insulators