In situ monitoring of the permanent crystallization, phase transformations and the associated optical and electrical enhancements upon heating of Se thin films

Abstract

In this work, the in situ structural transformations from amorphous to polycrystalline upon heating and the associated enhancements in the structural parameters of selenium thin films are studied by means of X-ray diffraction technique. The Se thin films which are grown onto ultrasonically cleaned glass substrate by the thermal evaporation technique under vacuum pressure of 10-5 mbar exhibits structural transformation from amorphous to polycrystalline near 353 K. The films completed the formation of the structure which includes both of the hexagonal and monoclinic phases at 363 K. It is observed that the hexagonal phase dominates over the monoclinic as temperature is raised. Consistently, the thermally assisted crystallization process is accompanied with increase in the crystallite size, decrease in the microstrain, decrease in defect density and decrease in the percentage of stacking faults. The scanning electron microscopy measurements also confirmed the crystallinity of selenium after heating. The time dependent reputations of the crystallization test has shown that the achieved phase transitions and enhancements in structural parameters are permanent in selenium. Optically, the crystallization process is observed to be associated with redshift in the absorption spectra and in the value of the energy band gap. Electrically, the in situ monitoring of the electrical conductivity during the heating cycle has shown that the electrical conductivity stabilizes and exhibit a decrease in the acceptor levels from 566 to 321 meV after the crystallization was achieved.