Formation of poly-crystalline BaSi2 thin films by pulsed laser deposition for solar cell applications

Abstract A new growth method for BaSi2 thin films by using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on transparent SiO2 and CaF2 substrates has been developed. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy revealed the poly-crystalline property of the deposited films. By introducing a thin Si buffer layer on SiO2 substrate, the crystalline quality of BaSi2 thin films were improved. BaSi2 thin films exhibited a Ba/Si ratio very close to 0.5, indicating the good stoichiometry control of PLD growth. The absorption coefficient of the poly-BaSi2 reached 105 cm-1 and its band gap was deduced to be 1.32 eV, which are similar to those grown by molecular beam epitaxy or sputtering. A maximum photoresponsivity of 12.5 mA/W was achieved in the BaSi2 thin film, which implies the potential of PLD-deposited BaSi2 for thin film solar cell applications.