Growth and properties of AlSbBi thin films by molecular beam epitaxy

AlSbBi thin films with a Bi content up to 15% have been successfully grown by molecular beam epitaxy for the first time. The effect of growth temperature, Sb flux and Bi flux on Bi incorporation are systematically studied. The incorporation of small size Al atoms is proven to be beneficial to improve the stability of AlSbBi with no change of Bi content in the growth temperature range of 360–420 \ub0C. The AlBi lattice constant is determined to be about 6.37 \uc5 by the combination of Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and high resolution X-ray diffraction. The new AlBi vibration modes located at 286 cm−1 and 295 cm−1 are observed and attributed to AlBi TO and LO mode, respectively, in agreement with theoretical simulations