Enhancement of initial growth of ZnO films on layer-structured Bi₂Te₃ by atomic layer deposition

The initial growth behavior of ZnO films by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on layer-structured Bi₂Te₃ was investigated. Despite the lack of adsorption sites on the basal plane of Bi₂Te₃, negligible incubation in the ALD of ZnO on Bi₂Te₃ was found in the temperature range from 100 to 160 °C, and even the enhancement of the initial growth was observed at 200 °C. We demonstrate that a ZnTe interfacial layer was formed in the early growth stage by the interaction between diethylzinc and Bi₂Te₃, which improved the nucleation of ZnO on the basal plane of Bi₂Te₃. These results indicate that surface modification via the interaction between a precursor and layer-structured materials is an efficient way to achieve fluent and uniform nucleation on layer-structured materials such as Bi₂Te₃.