Issue Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. Volume 47, Number 3, September 2009 Article Number 30501 Number of page(s) 5 Section Surfaces, Interfaces and Films DOI 10.1051/epjap/2009095 Published online 10 June 2009

Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 47, 30501 (2009)
DOI: 10.1051/epjap/2009095

Thermal annealing dependence of some physical properties of Bi-substituted Sn–Sb–Se glassy thin films

M. Ahmad¹, R. Thangaraj¹ and T.S. Sathiaraj<sup>2

1</sup>  Semiconductors Laboratory, Department of Applied Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, 143005 Punjab, India
²  Department of Physics, University of Botswana, Botswana

rthangaraj@rediffmail.com

Received: 10 March 2009 / Accepted: 23 March 2009 / Published online: 10 June 2009

Abstract
Bulk glasses of the Sn₁₀Sb_20-xBi_xSe₇₀ (0 x 8) system were prepared by the conventional melt quenching technique. Thin films were prepared by the thermal evaporation technique on glass substrates. Appearance of some crystalline phases is observed from the X-ray diffractograms after heat treatment below the glass transition temperature for 1 h. Scanning electron microscopy studies also show the presence of microcrystalline phases in the amorphous matrix after annealing for 1 h. The effect of Bi concentration and heat treatment on the optical gap and activation energy for dark conductivity were also investigated for the pristine as well as annealed films. The results are discussed on the basis of models related to the presence of defect states in chalcogenide materials.

PACS
61.05.C- - X-ray diffraction and scattering.
68.37.-d - Microscopy of surfaces, interfaces, and thin films.
74.25.Gz - Optical properties.
78.66.Jg - Amorphous semiconductors; glasses.

© EDP Sciences 2009

What is OpenURL?