XRD Analysis of PbTe Thin Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

PbTe thin films were deposited on polished Si(111) substrates by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The influence of sputtering parameters such as sputtering power, sputtering time, substrate temperature and annealing temperature on their crystallization quality was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the thin films deposited with 30 W sputtering power for 10 min on not heated substrate had a strong〈100〉 preferred orientation and best quality. The crystallization of thin films can be further improved by subsequent annealing and the higher annealing temperature, the better crystallization quality.