Mercury sulfide thin film deposition using [HgI4]2− complex ions

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 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.…”

“…For synthesizing HgS, HgSe, and HgSSe films, various mercury salts were employed as the source of mercury ions. These included mercury acetate [ 39 , 42 , 58 ], mercury nitrate [ 43 , 44 , 47 , 49 , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] ], mercury chloride [ 38 , 40 , 41 , 45 , 46 , 59 , 61 , 64 ], mercury iodide [ 60 ] and HgO [ 48 , 50 ]. Authors utilized diverse complexing agents such as ammonia [ 44 , 47 , 49 , 51 ], ammonium citrate [ 45 ], iodide [ 38 , 55 ], triethanolamine (TEA) [ 42 , 46 ] formamide [ 48 , 50 ], sodium thiosulfate [ 54 ], potassium thiocyanate [ 56 ] and thiourea [ 52 , 53 , 57 ].…”

“…The synthesis conditions were maintained at different pH levels of the working solution, namely 2–3 [ 41 , 59 , 61 ], 5.74–7.12 [ 52 ], 7.1 [ 53 ], 7.02–7.20 [ 57 ], 8 [ 42 , 58 ], 8.51–8.68 [ 54 ], 9 [ 49 ], 9.5 [ 55 ], 9.8 [ 56 ], 10 [ 44 , 47 ], 10.5 [ 45 , 48 , 51 , 63 ], and 11 [ 43 , 50 , 60 ]. Authors [ 38 ] also investigated the ratio's influence on the films' optical properties in the pH range from 2 to 12.…”

“…The authors conducted investigations into the optical properties of mercury chalcogenide films [ [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] ]. The absorption coefficient values for HgSe films were reported as 10 3 cm −1 [ 45 ] and 10 4 cm −1 [ 48 , 49 ].…”