Advances in Thin-Film Materials and Their Applications

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Crystalline Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026 | Viewed by 226

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Tangier, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tangier BP 416, Morocco
Interests: thin-film materials; advanced characterization techniques; electrochemical device applications; optoelectronics; simulations

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Tangier, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tangier BP 416, Morocco
Interests: crystallization; material characterization; thin films; structural optical and electrochemical properties

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thin-film materials have become increasingly significant in modern science and technology, demonstrating unique structural, chemical, electrical, optical, and mechanical properties compared to their bulky counterparts. They play vital roles in a wide range of fields, including electronics, photonics, energy conversion and storage, sensor technology, surface engineering, and biomedicine. For instance, in electronics, thin films are essential for creating high-performance integrated circuits and flexible electronic devices. In energy applications, they are crucial for enhancing the efficiency of solar cells and batteries. In sensor technology, thin films enable the development of highly sensitive and selective sensors. Furthermore, thin films have shown great potential in emerging areas such as optoelectronics, flexible electronics, and biomedicine.

Potential topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Thin film synthesis and growth: Research on advanced techniques, such as chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, and sol–gel methods.
  • Thin film characterization: Studies on the structural, optical, electrical, magnetic, and mechanical properties of thin films, including high-resolution diffraction techniques and other advanced characterization methods.
  • Thin film applications: Explorations of thin-film materials in electronics, photonics, energy conversion and storage, sensor technology, surface engineering, and biomedicine.
  • Thin film interfacial phenomena: Investigations into the interfacial effects, defects, and stability in thin films.
  • Thin film modeling and simulation: Theoretical and computational modeling of thin film growth, properties, and applications.

Dr. Abdellatif El-Habib
Dr. Abdessamad Aouni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thin-film materials
  • coatings
  • synthesis and growth
  • interfacial phenomena

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 3461 KiB  
Article
Magnetotransport Measurements in Overdoped Mn:Bi2Te3 Thin Films
by Angadjit Singh, Varun S. Kamboj, Crispin H. W. Barnes and Thorsten Hesjedal
Crystals 2025, 15(6), 557; https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst15060557 - 11 Jun 2025
Viewed by 137
Abstract
Introducing magnetic dopants into topological insulators (TIs) provides a pathway to realizing novel quantum phenomena, including the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) and axionic states. One of the most commonly used 3d transition metal dopants is Mn, despite its known tendency to [...] Read more.
Introducing magnetic dopants into topological insulators (TIs) provides a pathway to realizing novel quantum phenomena, including the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) and axionic states. One of the most commonly used 3d transition metal dopants is Mn, despite its known tendency to be highly mobile and to cause phase segregation. In this study, we present a detailed magnetotransport investigation of Mn-overdoped Bi2Te3 thin films using field-effect transistor architectures. Building on our previous structural investigations of these samples, we examine how high Mn content influences their electronic transport properties. From our earlier studies, we know that high Mn doping concentrations lead to the formation of secondary phases, which significantly alter weak antilocalization behavior and suppress topological surface transport. To probe the gate response of these doped films over extended areas, we fabricate field-effect transistor structures, and we observe uniform electrostatic control of conduction across the magnetic phase. Inspired by recent developments in intrinsic topological systems such as the MnTe-Bi2Te3 septuple-layer compounds, we explore the influence of embedded ferromagnetic chalcogenide inclusions as an alternative route to engineer magnetic topological states and potentially expand the operational temperature range of QAHE-enabled devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Thin-Film Materials and Their Applications)
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