Electrodeposition of Antimony, Tellurium and Their Alloys from Molten Acetamide Mixtures

We examine the electrodeposition of antimony (Sb), tellurium (Te) and their alloys from molten mixtures of acetamide - antimony chloride and tellurium chloride. The binary mixtures of acetamide with SbCl3 and TeCl4 exhibit eutectic formation with large depressions of freezing points to below room temperature. At temperatures up to 100 °C, these mixtures are highly conductive and can be used to deposit elementary Sb and Te films at current density up to 7 A dm− 2. Antimony telluride alloy films with composition between 20 and 81 at.% Te are obtained from ternary mixtures containing up to 0.48 M SbCl3 and up to 0.12 M TeCl4. Composition of the antimony telluride films can be controlled by adjusting bath composition and current density.