Structural, Morphological and Raman Studies of Pulse Electrosynthesised Indium Antimonide Thin Films

InSb films deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates by a pulse elctrodeposition technique. The deposition was carried out at an applied potential -1.3V versus Ag/AgCl electrode. Structural, morphological and optical studies were performed on the electrodeposited InSb. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies show that the deposited InSb films are polycrystalline in nature having the zinc blend structure. The crystallite size (D), dislocation density (delta) and strain (epsilon) were calculated using XRD results. The EDAX analysis shows that chemical composition of In3+ and Sb3+ ions is close to the required stoichiometry. The surface morphology of the deposited films was examined using scanning electron scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM studies reveal that the surface of the films is uniformly covered with submicron sized spherical particles. However, the crystallite size determined by the Scherrer method shows a size close to 30 nm. Surface morphology studies of the InSb films were also performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The average surface roughness as measured by AFM is around 40 nm. Hot probe studies show that all the electrodeposited thin films have n type conductivity and the thickness of the films is calculated using electrochemical formula.