Effect of heating rate on the hysteresis in the phase transition in silver telluride thin films

The electrical resistance of vacuum deposited silver telluride thin films was measured in the temperature range from 300 to 430 K at different heating rates. It is found that silver telluride films undergo a structural phase transition, with a hysteresis. The phase transition occurs over a wide temperature range of about 30 K and the transition temperature as well as the hysteresis width are found to be influenced by the heating rate. The effect of heating rate on the phase transition temperature and the hysteresis are discussed.