The investigation of the annealing effect on quaternary Se-Te-Sn-Ag (STSA) thin films' structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties

Abstract

This article comprehensively investigates the influence of thermal annealing on the stoichiometric efficacy of Se77.5-XTe20Sn2.5AgX (X = 2.5, 5, and 7.5 at%)) thin films and reports modification and enhancement of structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties through thermal annealing treatments. These findings show that annealing temperature influences the structural phase change from amorphous to crystalline, as well as the three different morphological growth formations (dewetting, nanocluster, and nanorod), which also influenced the decrease in surface roughness up to 0.712 nm, provided significant optical contrast, and linearly improved the electrical transition with decreasing resistivity. These synergetic effects on the STSA.7.5 thin film reduced the optical band gap by up to 0.86 +/- 0.02 eV and the electrical band gap by up to 0.011 eV, accompanied by a decrease in activation energy of 0.005 eV. This exploration of STSAX (X = 2.5, 5, and 7.5 at%) thin films could be promising for emerging electronic and optoelectronic applications.