Forming PbTe on Si-substrates for IR sensors

Formation of PbTe nanofilms by electrochemical atomic layer deposition (ALD)

“…PbTe is IV-VI compound semiconductor, with the rock salt structure and a narrow band gap (E g = 0.29 eV). In addition to thermoelectric applications, PbTe has been used for infrared detectors and photovoltaics [15][16][17]. With a large Bohr radius (a o ) (50 nm), relatively large PbTe nanostructures tend to exhibit quantum confinement effects [18].…”

“…Other techniques previously used to grow PbTe thin films have included molecular beam epitaxy [21,22], chemical vapor deposition [23,24], pulsed laser deposition [25,26] and hot-wall epitaxy [15]. One of the major drawbacks of these techniques is the use of high temperatures for the growth of films which results in heatinduced interdiffusion [27] of elements in adjacent structure layers, which can degrade deposit quality.…”