Fabrication and optical property of GaSe thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

The highly oriented (001) GaSe film on c-cut sapphire (0001) was successfully fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. As growth temperature decreases from 550degreesC to 375degreesC, the structure of films changes from cubic zinc-blende Ga2Se3 phase to GaSe phase. The growth temperature of the critical transition from Ga2Se3 phase to GaSe phase is around 500degreesC . From atomic force microscope (AFM) results, it is observed that the growth process of GaSe film is in the manner of layer plus island growth. Besides, the optimal growth conditions of as-grown GaSe film were obtained at a substrate temperature of 400degreesC and laser energy density of 11.7J/cm(2). When the thickness of films goes beyond 800 Angstrom, the stress will be released and the thickness of 1200 Angstrom results in an optimal GaSe film. Furthermore, the indirect bound exciton emission and the recombination via impurity levels or structural defects were observed from low-temperature photoluminescence measurement.