Growth Kinetics and Microstructure of PbTe Films Produced on Si and BaF2 Substrates by a Modified Hot-Wall Method

Abstract

Lead telluride films have been grown on Si (100) and BaF₂ (100) substrates by a modified hot-wall method using a graphite reaction chamber. According to X-ray diffraction, X-ray microanalysis, and scanning electron microscopy characterization results, the average growth rate of PbTe films having compositions within the homogeneity range of lead telluride increases with increasing lead vapor partial pressure and decreases with increasing tellurium vapor partial pressure, independent of the nature of the substrate. The rate of PbTe film growth has been shown to be maximal in the initial stage of the process and decrease monotonically over time, independent of the nature of the substrate. Independent of the growth time, the average growth rate of the PbTe films on the Si (100) substrates is considerably higher than that on the BaF₂ (100) substrates. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction data indicate that the texture of the PbTe films on Si (100) corresponds to the substrate orientation and that the misorientation angle of the mosaic blocks does not exceed 20°. On the BaF₂ (100) substrates, we observe epitaxial PbTe film growth with the orientation relationship (100), [011] PbTe ║ (100), [011] BaF₂.