Atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition of NbSe2–TiSe2 composite thin films

Atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition of titanium tetrachloride and niobium pentachloride with di-tert-butyl selenide at 550 °C was investigated for different precursors’ flow rates. Scanning electron microscopy of the films showed that they were composed of two different kinds of plate-like crystallites. Point wavelength dispersive X-ray (WDX) analyses of the crystallites revealed that they either had the NbSe2 or the TiSe2 composition. The presence of the two phases was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the calculated cell parameters indicate that niobium or titanium was not incorporated into each others’ lattice. WDX and XRD analyses highlighted how the NbSe2:TiSe2 ratio in the composite films could be controlled by precursor flow rate.