Structural and optical properties of nanocrystalline PbS thin films

The semiconducting thin films are two-dimensional materials created by the process of condensation of atoms, molecules or ions. They have their unique properties, significantly different from the corresponding bulk materials as a result of their physical dimensions, geometry, non-equilibrium and microstructure. Lead sulphide (PbS) is an important direct narrow gap IV-VI semiconductor material with an approximate energy band gap of 0.4 eV at 300K and a relatively large excitation Bohr radius of 18 nm. Nanocrystalline thin films are of significant interest for a large variety of electronic and optoelectronic devices. The quantum effects that come up when the crystallite size drops below 30 nm, which can be used to design a new generation of devices. The present work is aimed to improve the material characterization and also to further investigate the applicability of a band model approach to the description of this material. In this book, the structural and optical properties of pure and doped nanocrystalline PbS thin films deposited by CBD method at various concentrations of the precursors and different deposition times are discussed.