Pulsed electrodeposition of bismuth telluride films: Influence of pulse parameters over nucleation and morphology

Pulsed electrodeposition methods were applied to the preparation of bismuth telluride films. Over the potential ranges from −170 mV to −600 mV, the formation of Bi₂Te₃ nuclei proceeded through a three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation mode. The nuclei densities for several values of potential were ranged between ∼10⁶ nuclei cm⁻² and ∼10⁸ nuclei cm⁻². For a pulsed galvanostatic electroplating, the best covering percentage and a stoichiometry close to the desired Bi₂Te₃ were obtained with the parameters t_on, t_off and J_c, respectively, equal to 10 ms, 1000 ms and −100 mA cm⁻².