Growth of γ-In2Se3 films on Si substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition with different temperatures

In2Se3 films were deposited on the p(+)-Si(1 1 1) substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) for the first time at temperatures higher than 500 degrees C. Trimethyl indium (TMI) and H2Se were used as the source reactants with the flow ratio of [H2Se]/[TMI] being maintained at 6.7. The growth temperature was varied from 350 to 650 degrees C. Powder X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the In2Se3 film grown is polycrystalline and has a wurtzite structure when the growth temperature is below 450 degrees C. Instead, a rhombohedral structure began to appear when the growth temperature is above 450 degrees C. Besides, SEM observations indicated a surface morphology of columnar structure for all films grown. Optical properties were examined by photoluminescence (PL) measurements. It was found that by conducting the growth at 550 degrees C a strong PL emission at around 2.14 eV was observed at 20 K. The luminescence mechanism was found to be dominated by the free excitons based on the temperature-dependent PL spectra from 20 to 120 K. However, bound exciton emissions were also observed or even became the dominant band when the films were grown at temperatures lower than 500 degrees C. Otherwise, the intensity of the 2.14 eV peak reduced greatly when the growth temperature was higher than 5 50 degrees C. Power-dependent PL measurements with excitation power varying from 0.1 to 100 mW confirm the luminescent mechanism and the material quality of the film grown at 550 degrees C. It is concluded that single-phase gamma-In2Se3 films can be achieved at temperatures lower than 450 degrees C; however, good-quality In2Se3 films with the simultaneous appearance of gamma- and beta-phase structures can be grown at around 550 degrees C. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.