Electronic and quantum phase coherence properties of bismuth thin films

We present a method to deposit bulk-like Bi films by thermal evaporation and study the electrical, quantum coherence, and physical properties. A two stage growth procedure was found to optimize the film properties, with an initial wetting layer deposited at lower temperature followed by an active layer at higher temperature. Transport measurements indicate carrier properties comparable to molecular beam epitaxial films and display weak-antilocalization, from which the quantum phase coherence lengths are deduced. A 76 nm film is found to optimally exhibit both bulk-like Bi characteristics and the 2-dimensional quantum coherence properties desired for Bi-based quantum devices. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4729035]