Facilely synthesized Cu:PbS nanoparticles and their structural, morphological, optical, dielectric and electrical studies for optoelectronic applications

Abstract

In this study, synthesis of pure and Cu doped lead sulfide (PbS) nanoparticles was facilely achieved. The good crystalline nature of the nanoparticles was confirmed via X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Specifically, XRD data was also used to estimate the diffraction planes, lattice constants, size of crystallites, density of dislocations, and strain produced in the lattice. The XRD pattern was indexed after identifying the diffraction planes. The crystallite size was estimated to be in the range of 18–23 nm. The absence of any additional vibrational mode in Raman spectra was observed, and this confirmed the purity of PbS even at a higher Cu doping level. However, the vibrational modes exhibited some shift towards lower wavenumbers. Low dimension nanoparticles morphology and presence of Cu were investigated via scanning electron microscope/ Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM/EDX) analysis. Additionally, homogeneous Cu doping in final product was observed in an EDX elemental mapping image. Optical measurements were performed by recording diffused reflectance. Both direct energy gap values were estimated in the range of 1.15–1.50 eV, and this significantly exceeded that of the bulk (i.e., 0.41 eV). Dielectric and J-V electrical measurements were performed. The dc conductivity and mobility values were observed extremely high for 2.5% Cu doped PbS NPs [which correspond to 2.48 × 10−5 S/cm and 1.3 × 104 cm2/(V s)] when compared to those of pure and other doped PbS NPs.