Issue 1, 2022

Sample preparation induced phase transitions in solution deposited copper selenide thin films

Abstract

Thin films of CuSe were deposited onto GaAs substrate. XRD showed that the as-deposited films were of the Klockmannite (CuSe – P63/mmc 194) phase with lattice parameters a0 = b0 = 0.3939 nm, c0 = 1.7250 nm; however, electron diffraction in the TEM surprisingly indicated the β-Cu2−xSe phase (Cu1.95Se – R[3 with combining macron]m 166) with lattice parameters a0 = b0 = 0.412 nm, c0 = 2.045 nm. The discrepancy originated from the specimen preparation method, where the energy of the focused ion beam resulted in loss of selenium which drives a phase transition to β-Cu2−xSe in this system. The same phase transition was observed also upon thermal treatment in vacuum, as well as when the 200 keV electron beam was focused on a powder sample in the TEM. The initial phase can be controlled to some extent by changing the composition of the reactants in solution, resulting in thin films of the cubic α-Cu2−xSe (Cu1.95Se – Fm[3 with combining macron]m) phase co-existing together with the β-Cu2−xSe phase.

Graphical abstract: Sample preparation induced phase transitions in solution deposited copper selenide thin films

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Oct 2021
Accepted
14 Dec 2021
First published
21 Dec 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2022,12, 277-284

Sample preparation induced phase transitions in solution deposited copper selenide thin films

B. Koren, O. Friedman, N. Maman, S. Hayun, V. Ezersky and Y. Golan, RSC Adv., 2022, 12, 277 DOI: 10.1039/D1RA07947F

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