Influence of Growth Parameters on the Surface and Interface Quality of Laser Deposited InSb/CdTe Heterostructures

The pulsed laser deposition technique has been employed for the growth of single crystalline oriented films of indium antimonide on bulk cadmium telluride substrates. The films grown during this study were tested for surface quality and interface features, generally prevalent due to film–substrate reactions. The composition of the grown film was found to deviate from that of the target owing to loss of antimony during evaporation, leading to the formation of an interfacial compound. The antimony deficiency in the films was compensated by correcting the target composition. Growth parameters and their effects on these manifestations have been studied. The optimization of these parameters has led to growth of layers with good surface morphology and abrupt interfaces. Efforts have been made to detect the origin of the diffuse interface and to identify the compound resulting at the interface through photoluminescence spectroscopy. Using PL and thermoenergetic calculations for the plausible reactions at the interface, we have ascertained that the interfacial compound is more likely to be In2Te3.