Characteristics of electrodeposited bismuth telluride thin films with different crystal growth by adjusting electrolyte temperature and concentration

Bismuth telluride ($Bi_2Te_3$) thin films were prepared with various electrolyte temperatures ($10^{\circ}C-70^{\circ}C$) and concentrations [$Bi(NO_3)_3$ and $TeO_2:1.25-5.0mM$] in this study. The surface morphologies differed significantly between the experiments in which these two electrodeposition conditions were separately adjusted even though the applied current density was in the same range in both cases. At higher electrolyte temperatures, a dendrite crystal structure appeared on the film surface. However, the surface morphology did not change significantly as the electrolyte concentration increased. The dendrite crystal structure formation in the former case may have been caused by the diffusion lengths of the ions increasing with increasing electrolyte temperature. In such a state, the reactive points primarily occur at the tops of spiked areas, leading to dendrite crystal structure formation. In addition, the in-plane thermoelectric properties of $Bi_2Te_3$ thin films were measured at approximately 300 K. The power factor decreased drastically as the electrolyte temperature increased because of the decrease in electrical conductivity due to the dendrite crystal structure. However, the power factor did not strongly depend on the electrolyte concentration. The highest power factor [$1.08{\mu}W/(cm{\cdot}K^2$)] was obtained at 3.75 mM. Therefore, to produce electrodeposited $Bi_2Te_3$ films with improved thermoelectric performances and relatively high deposition rates, the electrolyte temperature should be relatively low ($30^{\circ}C$) and the electrolyte concentration should be set at 3.75 mM.