Composition, structure and functional properties of nanostructured PbSe films deposited using different antioxidants

Abstract By means of chemical bath deposition of selenourea in the presence of ammonium iodide and antioxidants (C6H8O6, Na2SO3, Na2SO3 + C6H8O6, SnCl2) high adhesion nanostructured films of PbSe with a thickness of 300–690 nm were obtained. Depending on the type of antioxidant introduced into the reaction mixture, the dimensions of the crystallites forming the PbSe film in the series listed decrease from 60 ± 10 to 8 ± 2 nm with simultaneous growth from 0.21 ± 0.01 to 1.25 ± 0.15% of microstresses. An increase in the lattice constant of as-deposited lead selenide from 0.6129(8) to 0.6265(9) nm correlates with an increase in the content of iodine in the PbSe film. Using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with EDX-analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we investigated the effect of annealing PbSe films on their elemental, phase composition, lattice parameters and surface morphology. It is established that the annealed PbSe films are multiphase and contain PbSeO3, PbSeO4, PbI2. Low-temperature studies in the range of 213–333 K allowed us to determine the PbSe band gap, ranged from 0.265 to 0.349 eV, which depends strongly on a type of antioxidant. PbSe films synthesized using ascorbic acid and tin (II) chloride have anomalously high responsibility at relatively low temperatures, which makes it possible to manufacture highly sensitive IR detectors on their basis.