Growth and transport properties of Sb2−xVxTe3 thin films on sapphire substrates

Thin films of Sb2−xVxTe3 with x=0, 0.15, 0.32 and 0.35 have been grown on sapphire (0 0 0 1) substrates using molecular-beam epitaxy. With the increasing concentration of vanadium, the in-plane lattice constant of Sb2−xVxTe3 films decreases while the c-axis lattice constant shows a very small increase. The electrical resistivity of Sb2−xVxTe3 films decreases by an order of magnitude when V is substituted on the Sb sublattice. The Hall effect measurements show an increase in the concentration of holes as the content of vanadium increases.