Growth and electrical properties of flash evaporated AgGaTe2 thin films

Thin films have been prepared by flash evaporation technique of a stoichiometric bulk of AgGaTe2 compound in vacuum and analysed using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, selected area diffraction and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays. The effect of substrate temperature on the structural properties grain size, film orientation, composition, and stoichiometry of the films have been studied. It was found that the polycrystalline, stoichiometric films of AgGaTe2 can be grown in the substrate temperature range of 473K <= Ts <= 573K. The influence of substrate temperature (Ts) on the electrical characteristics- Resistivity, Hall Mobility, Carrier concentration of AgGaTe2 thin films were studied. The electrical resistivity was found to decrease with increase in substrate temperature up to 573K and then increases. The variation of activation energy of AgGaTe2 thin films were also investigated. The implications are discussed. (c) 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.