Structural, morphological, optical, and photoluminescence properties of nanocrystalline PbS thin films grown by chemical bath deposition

Abstract

The transparent and nanocrystalline lead sulfide (PbS) thin films were prepared by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique onto glass substrates deposited at 80 °C using aqueous solution of lead acetate and thiourea. The X-ray diffraction pattern proves the crystallinity of deposited films that crystallize in the orthorhombic structure and preferred orientation. The energy band-gap and refractive index were estimated using UV–visible absorption spectra. The variation in band-gap with grain size showed blue-shift typical of electron quantum confinement. The effect of crystal ordering on refractive index was also evident by the linear increase of the refractive index with grain size. The PbS thin films were characterized by XRD, optical and SEM analysis.

Keywords

• Lead sulfide films
• CBD
• XRD
• Optical properties
• SEM