Electrochemical codeposition of indium and antimony from a chloroindate molten salt
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The electrochemical codeposition of In and Sb from a novel low temperature molten salt electrolyte is reported. The melt, which consists of InCl3 and l-methyl-3ethylimidazolium chloride, allows the codeposition to be accomplished at 45 °C. XPS shows that InSb can be deposited from this system. Electrochemical experiments are provided along with an interpretation that draws on the importance of In(i) species in the melt.
I. INTRODUCTION Magnetoresistive materials are likely to be important components in position-sensitive or speed-sensitive sensors in the near future. These sensors operate by monitoring the resistance of a magnetoresistive element in proximity to a magnet; the resistance of the element is dependent on the strength and direction of the impinging magnetic field.1 The premier magnetoresistive materials that are likely to be used in such devices are indium antimonide (InSb) and indium arsenide (InAs), both members of the technologically important family of III-V semiconductors. InSb has the highest room temperature carrier mobility known (77 000 cm 2 /V s for electrons),2 and thus can provide the largest magnetoresistive response, while InAs, with a larger bandgap than InSb, may provide better thermal stability in a device. Magnetoresistive sensors using either material will require a relatively thin magnetoresistive element, from 15 /xm to 20 nm depending on the specific properties of the material. One possible and potentially convenient method of obtaining such films is the electrodeposition of the semiconductor of interest. Deposition of the desired film thickness would be easily accomplished by controlling the current flow in the system. Direct deposition of such thin films would eliminate the need to thin commercially available samples by grinding or lapping. In addition, electrodeposition generally requires low scale-up costs compared to competing methods of deposition such as chemical vapor deposition and molecular beam epitaxy. Electrodeposition also offers efficient use of chemical precursors since deposition occurs only on the working electrode and not on other reactor surfaces. Some recent research has dealt with the electrochemical codeposition of In-Sb alloys from an aqueous system. 34 We will focus here on the electrodeposition of InSb from a nonaqueous system. Surprisingly little work has been done on the electrodeposition of III-V semiconductors. Cuomo and 2584
http://journals.cambridge.org
J. Mater. Res., Vol. 9, No. 10, Oct 1994
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Gambino5 reported in 1968 on the deposition of GaP from a molten salt at 800 °C, and several papers detailing the electrodeposition of GaAs and InP from molten salts have since appeared.6"8 More recently, Wicelinski and Gale9 reported the electrodeposition of GaAs at 40 °C from an organic chloroaluminate melt, and we have reported the electrodeposition of GaAs at room temperature from a related organic chlorogallate molten salt. 1011 Herein we report the electrodeposition of InSb from a novel organic chloroindate molten salt. II. EX
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