Thermal and Structural Study of Mono- and Multi-Layered Thin Films Composed of CuAlS₂ Chalcogenide

Thin films constituted of CuAlS₂ nanoparticles deposited with various deposition velocities in single and multilayers onto silicon Si(111) substrates by thermal evaporation have been studied by lifting their structural and thermal properties. Thermal properties of Si(111) and Si(111)/CuAlS₂ structures are determined by using the photothermal deflection technique by comparing experimental and theoretical signals. We succeed in extracting the thermal conductivity, the thermal diffusivity, and the electron free mean path of these deposited chalcogenide layers. For the multilayers, the obtained values of the thermal conductivity are in good agreement with the theoretical data.