Pulsed electrodeposition of bismuth telluride films: Influence of pulse parameters over nucleation and morphology

Pulsed electrodeposition methods were applied to the preparation of bismuth telluride films. Over the potential ranges from −170 mV to −600 mV, the formation of Bi2Te3 nuclei proceeded through a three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation mode. The nuclei densities for several values of potential were ranged between ∼106 nuclei cm−2 and ∼108 nuclei cm−2. For a pulsed galvanostatic electroplating, the best covering percentage and a stoichiometry close to the desired Bi2Te3 were obtained with the parameters ton, toff and Jc, respectively, equal to 10 ms, 1000 ms and −100 mA cm−2.