THIN PYRITE (FES2) FILMS PREPARED BY MAGNETRON SPUTTERING

Thin pyrite films have been prepared by sulphur-assisted magnetron sputtering at deposition temperatures between 88 and 390-degrees-C. The films were microcrystalline, with an average grain size of about 400 angstrom and a preferential orientation changing from (200) to (111) on going to higher deposition temperatures. The electrical conductivity was degenerate, with sigma(RT) = 4-OMEGA-1 cm-1, p = 5 x 10(18) cm-3 and mu(HRT) = 5 cm2 V-1 s-1. A positive sign was observed in both Hall and Seebeck measurements, indicating holes to be the predominant current carrier. Mu(H) varied approximately linearly with temperature, consistent with contributions from both ionized and neutral impurity scattering.