Quantum Confinement Effects in PbSe Thin Films Formed Using Electrochemical Atomic Layer Epitaxy
Abstract
Electrochemical Atomic Layer Epitaxy (EC-ALE) is an alternative technique to MBE for the deposition of semiconductor films, heterostructures and nanodeposits. Advantages of this technique include room temperature deposition, deposition into templates and onto odd surfaces. Here we report on the deposition and characterization of PbSe thin films. The PbSe films were formed using EC-ALE as follows: A layer of Se was deposited onto a gold substrate at a potential less than that required to deposit Se onto Se, thus a Se monolayer is formed. Then, a monolayer of Pb was deposited onto the Se layer at a potential smaller than that required to deposit Pb onto itself. This technique is known as underpotential deposition (UPD). By alternately depositing Pb and Se layers using UPD, PbSe thin films of different thickness ranging from 10 to 85 layers of PbSe were formed. The dependence of the bandgap as a function of film thickness was obtained via IR absorption measurements and compared to models based on parabolic and hyperbolic band models.
- Publication:
-
APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- March 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004APS..MARU10008C