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Fabrication and characterization of semiconducting half Heusler YPtSb thin films

The semiconducting half Heusler compound YPtSb was predicted theoretically to be capable of changing into topological insulator under proper strain. In this work, p type semiconducting half-Heusler YPtSb thin films were prepared by magnetron co-sputtering method from a specially designed target for the first time. Textured structure with (111) plane paralleling with (001) of MgO substrate was observed when YPtSb thin films were grown on MgO (100) substrate at 600°C.Electrical measurements show that the resistivity of YPtSb films decreases with increasing temperature, indicating a semiconductor-like behavior. The carrier density is as high as 1.15 X 10^21 cm-3 at 300 K. The band gap of YPtSb thin films obtained by infrared spectroscopy is around 0.1 - 0.15 eV, which is well in agreement with the theoretical prediction and the value measured in bulk YPtSb.