Abstract
A stoichiometric mixture of evaporating materials for $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin films was prepared in a horizontal electric furnace. These $ZnAl_2Se_4$ polycrystals had a defect chalcopyrite structure, and its lattice constants were $a_0=5.5563{\AA}$ and $c_0=10.8897{\AA}$.To obtain a single-crystal thin film, mixed $ZnAl_2Se_4$ crystal was deposited on the thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by a hot wall epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and the substrate temperatures were $620^{\circ}C$ and $400^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of the single-crystal thin film was investigated by using a double crystal X-ray rocking curve and X-ray diffraction ${\omega}-2{\theta}$ scans. The carrier density and mobility of the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin film were $8.23{\times}10^{16}cm^{-3}$ and $287m^2/vs$ at 293 K, respectively. To identify the band gap energy, the optical absorption spectra of the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin film was investigated in the temperature region of 10-293 K. The temperature dependence of the direct optical energy gap is well presented by Varshni's relation: $E_g(T)=E_g(0)-({\alpha}T^2/T+{\beta})$. The constants of Varshni's equation had the values of $E_g(0)=3.5269eV$, ${\alpha}=2.03{\times}10^{-3}eV/K$ and ${\beta}=501.9K$ for the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ single-crystal thin film. The crystal field and the spin-orbit splitting energies for the valence band of the $ZnAl_2Se_4$ were estimated to be 109.5 meV and 124.6 meV, respectively, by means of the photocurrent spectra and the Hopfield quasicubic model. These results indicate that splitting of the ${\Delta}so$ definitely exists in the ${\Gamma}_5$ states of the valence band of the $ZnAl_2Se_4/GaAs$ epilayer. The three photocurrent peaks observed at 10 K are ascribed to the $A_1$-, $B_1$-exciton for n = 1 and $C_{21}$-exciton peaks for n = 21.