Semiconducting behavior of Ag2Te thin films and the dependence of band gap on thickness

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Abstract
Thin films of Ag2Te of various thicknesses in the range 500–1500 Å have been prepared by thermal evaporation of the compound under vacuum on clean glass substrates held at room temperature. The electrical resistance of the films has been measured as a function of temperature during heating, which was carried out immediately after the film formation. The observed exponential decrease of resistance with temperature up to the transition point points to the semiconducting nature of the low temperature polymorph of Ag2Te. The band gap of the low temperature phase is calculated for various thicknesses of the films and it is found that the band gap is a function of film thickness, increasing with decreasing thickness. The increase in the band gap, which was found to be inversely proportional to the square of the film thickness, is attributed to quantization of electron momentum component normal to film plane.

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