Optical and electrical properties of Pb(Te,S) nanomaterials prepared by hydrothermal method for application in solar cells

Abstract

The bulk lead sulfide and lead telluride are narrow gap semiconductors that can be used in fabricating infrared detectors and thermoelectric devices. In the recent years nanomaterials of those compounds were prepared in order to tune their energy gaps to widen their applications as different electronic devices. Therefore lead sulfide and lead telluride nanomaterials were prepared by a simple chemical method called hydrothermal method. Their structural properties were studied by using X-ray diffraction and their crystallite size lattice parameter, dislocation density and the strain were determined for PbS and PbTe nanomaterials. The atomic percentages were measured for both materials and their stoichiometric composition was confirmed.