Enhancement of Initial Growth of ZnO Films on Layer-Structured Bi2Te3 by Atomic Layer Deposition

The initial growth behavior of ZnO films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on layer-structured Bi 2 Te 3 was investigated. Despite the lack of adsorption sites on the basal plane of Bi 2 Te 3, negligible incubation in the ALD of ZnO on Bi 2 Te 3 was found in the temperature range from 100 to 160 °C, and even the enhancement of the initial growth was observed at 200 °C. We demonstrate that a ZnTe interfacial layer was formed in the early growth stage by the interaction between diethylzinc and Bi 2 Te 3, which improved the nucleation of ZnO on the basal plane of Bi 2 Te 3 . These results indicate that surface modification via the interaction between a precursor and layer-structured materials is an efficient way to achieve fluent and uniform nucleation on layer-structured materials such as Bi 2 Te 3 .