Growth and properties of Cd3As2 films prepared by pulsed-laser evaporation

Pulsed-laser evaporation has been used to prepare films of Cd3As2. It is found that the electrical quality of the prepared films improves markedly as the substrate temperature is increased from 295 to 433 K. The films deposited at about 430 K are highly oriented, with electrical characteristics approaching those of the bulk material. Electron mobilities reach values of 6.05 × 103 cm2/V∙s at 300 K (i.e., comparable to bulk mobilities) and 9 × 103 cm2/V∙s at 10 K (which is within a factor of two of those for the bulk material). Further increases in the substrate-deposition temperature give rise to films that are arsenic deficient.