Electrical Properties of Cu1—xAgxGaTe2 Thin Films

We report on conductivity and Hall effect measurements made on thin films of the quaternary compound Cu 1-x Ag x GaTe 2 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1). The films were prepared by flash evaporation of prereacted material. The prereacted polycrystalline material was analyzed by X-ray diffraction and the lattice constants were derived. It was found that the electrical resistivity for the thin films can be changed by the copper/silver ratio. The values at room temperature varied from 1.5 x 10 4 Ω cm for AgGaTe 2 to 1.3 Ω cm for CuGaTe2. All the samples showed p-type conductivity. From temperature dependent Hall effect measurements between 30 and 400 K of CuGaTe 2 and AgGaTe 2 thin films, the hole concentrations and the acceptor activation energies were determined.