Hydrochemical Synthesis of HgS1 – xSex Film Solid Solutions

Hydrochemical synthesis of thin films of mercury chalcogenides (HgS and HgSe): A brief review

“…Therefore, the selection of a synthesis method becomes crucial to enable the production of films with reproducible properties. Currently, films of mercury chalcogenides, heterostructures, and solid solutions based on them have been successfully produced using a variety of methods, including vacuum deposition [ 28 ], magnetron sputtering [ 29 ], cathodic deposition [ 30 ], radiofrequency deposition [ 31 ], molecular beam epitaxy, and liquid phase epitaxy [ 32 ], electrochemical deposition [ [26] , [33] , [34] ], metalorganic compound deposition from the gas phase [ 29 , 32 , [27] , [35] , [36] ], spray pyrolysis [ 37 ], and chemical solution deposition [ [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] , [64] ].…”

“…In synthesizing HgSSe films on glass substrates, the authors [ 51 ] observed the formation of highly oriented columnar disks with a size of 100 nm and a thickness of 6 nm, The authors [ 57 ] obtained HgSSe films with a solid, smooth, and uniform surface, revealing only a small amount of precipitate and irregular-shaped defects.…”

“…In most studies, glass and its modifications (FTO/glass, SnO 2 /glass, PbS/glass) are employed as model substrates, with the additional use of polyester, quartz, and plexiglass substrates. Despite their diverse crystalline structures, most cases exhibit the formation of HgS, HgSe, and HgSSe films with a cubic structure [ 39 , 42 , 44 , 45 , [47] , [48] , [49] , 51 , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] ]. Furthermore, authors [ 40 , 46 ] report synthesizing polycrystalline films, whose structure is challenging to determine due to numerous broad peaks in the diffraction pattern with approximately equal intensity.…”

“…Authors [ 43 ] achieved films on PbS/glass substrates with predominant α-phase and γ-phase impurities in HgS, while authors [ 50 ] obtained amorphous HgSe films. The stoichiometry of Hg: X (where X is S, Se) in the films is 1:1, except for [ 42 ], where it is 36:63 % [ 49 ]; – 1:0.969; and [ 51 , 57 ], where the authors synthesized a solid solution with HgSSe substitution, with the ratio of Hg:S:Se being 1:0.52:0.48 [ 51 ] or ranging from 1.0:0.93:0.07 to 1.0:0.67:0.33 [ 57 ]. The authors observed no changes in a follow-up investigation of the same sample four months later.…”

“…A substantial number of works focus on the synthesis of mercury chalcogenide films at temperatures ranging from 0 to 40 °C [ 38 , 42 , 44 , 45 , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , 54 , 56 ], whereas fewer studies concentrate on synthesis at temperatures from 60 to 90 °C [ 39 , 43 , 46 , 52 , 53 , 55 , 57 ]. Authors [ 47 , 49 , 51 , 63 ] additionally conducted reagent mixing at 5 °C with a subsequent temperature increase to room temperature over several hours.…”