Effect of oxidation on the thermoelectric properties of PbSe thin films

Abstract

The effect of oxidation at room temperature on the thermoelectric properties of PbSe/KCl (001) thin films prepared by thermal evaporation was investigated. The dependences of the electrical conductivity, the Hall coefficient, charge carrier mobility, and thermopower on the PbSe layer thickness (d=4–200 nm) were obtained. An inversion of the sign of the dominant carriers from n to p at d∼80 nm was observed under decreasing d. The d dependences of the thermoelectric properties were interpreted, taking into consideration the oxidation processes at the film/air interface within the framework of models considering both n-type and p-type carriers.