Thickness dependence of electrical resistivity and activation energy in AgSbTe2 thin films

Thin films of AgSbTe₂ with different thicknesses were prepared by thermal evaporation on glass substrates held at room temperature. The films were all found to be semiconducting in nature. The film resistivity was found to be a function of inverse thickness and was discussed on the basis of the effective mean free path model. The activation energy was found to be a linear function of the inverse square of film thickness. It was attributed to the quantization of the momentum component of charge carriers normal to the film plane.