Highly oriented [1 1 0] Bi₂Te₃ films were obtained by pulsed electrodeposition. The structure, composition and morphology of these films were characterized. The thermoelectric figure of merit (zT), both parallel and perpendicular to the substrate surface, were determined by measuring the Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity in each direction. At 300 K, the in-plane and out-of-plane figure of merits of these Bi₂Te₃ films were (5.6 ± 1.2)·10⁻² and (10.4 ± 2.6)·10⁻², respectively.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) films have been grown on gold (111) by electrodeposition using two different OH− sources, nitrate and peroxide, in order to obtain a comparative study between them. The morphology, structural and optical characterization of the films were investigated depending on the solution used (nitrate and peroxide) and the applied potential. Scanning electron microscopy pictures show different morphologies in each case. X-ray diffraction confirms that the films are pure ZnO oriented along the (0002) direction. ZnO films have been studied by photoluminescence to identify the emission of defects in the visible range. A consistent model that explains the emissions for the different electrodeposited ZnO films is proposed. We have associated the green and yellow emissions to a transition from the donor OH− to the acceptor zinc vacancies (VZn−) and to interstitial oxygen (Oi0), respectively. The orange-red emission is probably due to transitions from the conducting band to Oi− and OZn0 defects and the infrared emission to transition from these Oi−/2− and OZn0/− defects to the valence band.