Bismuth chalcogenides have been intensively studied for their high-performance thermoelectric properties and their novel topological surface states, which could significantly benefit novel applications in fields such as TE devices, spintronics, and quantum computing. This chapter reports recent advances in pulsed laser deposition (PLD) for the growth of bismuth chalcogenide (e.g., Bi2Te3, Bi2Se3, and Bi3Se2Te) thin films and their novel properties. It covers a wide range of fields such as thin film growth using PLD for fabricating polycrystalline and epitaxial films with different thermoelectric, nanomechanical, and magnetotransport properties as a function of the PLD processing conditions. Moreover, the proximity-induced superconductivities in Bi inclusions/bismuth chalcogenide thin films are also reported and discussed in detail.
Part of the book: Applications of Laser Ablation
Ultrafast dynamics of carriers and phonons in topological insulator Bi2Se3, CuxBi2Se3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.125) single crystals were studied by time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy. The coherent optical phonon (A1g1) is found via the damped oscillation in the transient reflectivity changes (∆R/R) for CuxBi2Se3. The observed red shift of A1g1 phonon frequency suggests the intercalation of Cu atoms between a pair of the quintuple layers of Bi2Se3 crystals. Moreover, the relaxation processes of Dirac fermion near the Dirac point of Bi2Se3 are studied by optical pump and mid-infrared probe spectroscopy through analyzing the negative peak of the ∆R/R. The Dirac fermion-phonon coupling strength was found in the range of 0.08–0.19 and the strength is reduced as it gets closer to the Dirac point. The ultrafast dynamics and fundamental parameters revealed by time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy are important for designing the optoelectronics in the mid-IR and THz ranges.
Part of the book: Two-dimensional Materials for Photodetector
This chapter reviews the nanostructuring fabrications and properties of indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin films by femtosecond laser annealing. Fundamental mechanisms of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) and other nanostructures on ITO films are presented and discussed in detail. ITO films with large-area surface ripple structures with a multiperiodic spacing of ~800, ~400, and ~200 nm were successfully fabricated by femtosecond laser pulses, without scanning. The ITO films exhibited significant enhancement in electrical conductivity by ~30 times because of the formation and distribution of indium metal-like clusters. This metallic content of the laser-induced nanodots and nanolines further causes the anisotropic transmission characteristics in the visible range. In addition, by varying the laser fluences, nanostructures with cotton, brick, and ripple forms are generated on the surface of ITO films, which produce cyan, yellow, and orange colors. Intriguingly, the ITO films with laser-induced nanostructures can significantly attenuate blue light, thus they are potential for applications such as eye protection and information security.
Part of the book: Methods for Film Synthesis and Coating Procedures