The effect of substrate bias voltage on PbTe films deposited by magnetron sputtering

► PbTe films were deposited onto ITO glass substrate by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. ► Effect of substrate bias voltage on the quality of films were investigated. ► The property of films were improved with increasing bias voltage to −30 V. ► Further increase of bias voltage leads to transformation of the property. ► −30 V is the best bias voltage for the preparation of PbTe films.