Dendritic crystal regrowth and electrical properties of InSb thin films prepared by vacuum evaporation

InSb thin films were evaporated and deposited on mica substrates by a simple vacuum evaporation method. A recrystallization of the deposit was observed at the last stage of the thin-film deposition. The recrystallization showed a dendritic crystal regrowth and the recrystallized area obtained one order of magnitude higher electron mobility than that of the as-deposited area. The maximum electron mobility obtained at room temperature was 6.0×104 cm2 /V s with impurity concentration of 5.8×1015 cm−3 . The crystal regrowth was found to be due to the melting-solidification process through the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism.