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Band gap engineering in lead sulphur selenide (PbS1−x Se x ) thin films synthesized by chemical bath deposition method

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Abstract

Nanocrystalline PbS1−x Se x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) thin films have been deposited on silica glass substrate by the chemical bath deposition technique. The deposited PbS1−x Se x thin films were smooth and mirror-like gray in color. The films were characterized by a variety of techniques and the effect of selenium (Se) concentration analyzed. The X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that all the PbS1−x Se x thin films were polycrystalline and had the face centered cubic structure. Variation in Se concentration had a significant effect on the preferred orientation of the crystallites. The lattice constant and inter planer distance increased linearly with the gradual addition of Se in the PbS1−x Se x thin films. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis confirmed that all the samples have stoichiometric composition. The surface morphology of the films has been examined using scanning electron microscopy. The optical absorption spectroscopy study revealed that the optical band gap of the PbS1−x Se x thin films tuned from near-infrared to visible region (1.32–1.08 eV) by simple and cost effective route.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the Department of Physics, University of Ghana, Legon for allowing us to use their XRD machine. The authors also thankful to Dr Girma Hailu for EDX and SEM measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia

    Fekadu Gashaw Hone

  2. Department of Physics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Francis Kofi Ampong, Robert Kwame Nkum & Francis Boakye

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  1. Fekadu Gashaw Hone
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  2. Francis Kofi Ampong
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  3. Robert Kwame Nkum
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  4. Francis Boakye
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Correspondence to Fekadu Gashaw Hone.

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Hone, F.G., Ampong, F.K., Nkum, R.K. et al. Band gap engineering in lead sulphur selenide (PbS1−x Se x ) thin films synthesized by chemical bath deposition method. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 28, 2893–2900 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-016-5874-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-016-5874-6

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