Growth of ZnTe films by pulsed laser deposition technique

Polycrystalline zinc telluride films were successfully deposited on glass substrates at different temperatures ranging from 300 K to 773 K by ablating a ZnTe target (99.99%) by a pulsed laser beam. Microstructural studies indicated an increase in the average crystallite size from 40 nm to ∼75 nm with the increase in substrate temperature during deposition. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that structure of the films depended on the deposition temperature. The band gap as determined from the transmittance versus wavelength traces was found to vary between 2.32 and 2.38 eV. The PL spectra measured at 300 K were dominated by a strong peak located at ∼1.77 eV which overshadowed the band edge luminescence peak at ∼2.23 eV. Characteristics Raman peaks for ZnTe at ∼173 cm−1 (TO) and ∼199 cm−1 (LO) were also observed.

► Pulsed laser deposition with assured reproducibility.
► Compact texture of the film.
► Dependence of structure on substrate temperature during deposition.