Reproducibility of vacuum deposited films of amorphous ZnTe

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity of high purity amorphous ZnTe films has been measured and compared for films produced in the same way, and some films produced with different deposition parameters. We have demonstrated (probably for the first time) that pure vacuum deposited amorphous films can be fabricated with sample conductivities reproduced to better than a factor of two (14 samples over a two year period) between ~100 and ~400 K. This work was made possible with the help of a microprocessor monitored vacuum deposition system with a base pressure of 10−9 Torr. In addition, it is shown that samples fabricated in a system at a pressure of 10−6 Torr have conductivities which depend on the nature of the residual gas in the system because the sample conductivity varies significantly when different ambient gases are introduced.