Effect of electrochemical deposition conditions on the crystallographic texture of bismuth telluride alloys

Bismuth telluride electrodeposition was carried out to investigate the effect of electroplating factors on the crystal orientation. It was found that the layers have a fibre crystallographic texture. The applied potential and current density have a strong effect on the chemical composition and therefore on the orientation of the electrodeposited films. According to the amount of tellurium in the deposits three types of behaviour were defined. A {1 0 .0} crystalline crystallographic texture appeared for alloys with a very important excess of tellurium obtained at low current densities. Another preferential orientation was observed the {1 1 .0} for the Te-rich layers. Finally two orientations {1 1 .0} and {1 0 .1 0} were found for Bi-rich electrodeposits. An increase in the thickness promoted sharper crystallographic textures.