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Nanocrystallization and optical properties of quaternary Sn–Se–Bi–Te chalcogenide thin films

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Abstract

Thin films of the pre-melt quenched bulk samples of (SnSe4)95-x(Bi2Te3)5+x (x = 0, 5, 15) system have been prepared by thermal evaporation technique. The structural and optical properties of these thin films have been investigated utilizing normal transmittance spectra. Various parameters like linear refractive index (n) determined using Swanepoel method, dielectric constants (εr and εi), optical conductivity (σopt) determined using the linear refractive index, extinction coefficient (k), and absorption coefficient (α) have been evaluated. The optical bandgap (Egopt), direct and indirect (\({E}_{\text{g}}^{\text{dir}}\) and \({E}_{\text{g}}^{\text{ind}}\)), has been determined using the Tauc extrapolation method, and the bandgap values are found to decrease from 1.81 to 1.67 eV and 1.02 to 0.89 eV, respectively. Egopt values show a similar trend to the theoretically calculated bandgap. The observed change in the optical parameters has been explained based on the decreasing defect states in the system. The nonlinear properties of the aforementioned system have also been reported. The results revealed that with the addition of metallic elements Bi and Te there is an increase in the semiconducting behavior of the system.

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Acknowledgements

Author (RS) gratefully acknowledges the Jaypee University of Information Technology, Waknaghat, India for providing experimental facilities.

Funding

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. No financial assistance has been received for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Library & Information Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

    Rajan Sharma

  2. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, Gurugram, Haryana, 122505, India

    Sunanda Sharda

  3. Department of Physics, College of Science and Arts, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    K. A. Aly

  4. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut Branch, Assiut, Egypt

    K. A. Aly

  5. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha, Saudi Arabia

    A. Dahshan

  6. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt

    A. Dahshan

  7. Applied Science Department, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Sector 26, Chandigarh, 160019, India

    Pankaj Sharma

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  1. Rajan Sharma
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Contributions

RS: Experimental and methodology. SS: Methodology and writing—original draft. AD: Methodology and formal analysis. KAA: Methodology and formal analysis. PS: Conceptualization, writing—review & editing, and supervision.

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Correspondence to Rajan Sharma or Sunanda Sharda.

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Sharma, R., Sharda, S., Aly, K.A. et al. Nanocrystallization and optical properties of quaternary Sn–Se–Bi–Te chalcogenide thin films. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 16320–16333 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-08524-y

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