Swift heavy ion-irradiation effects on microstructure, surface morphology and optical properties of PbS thin films

Abstract

Chemically deposited PbS nanocrystalline thin films are irradiated by 100 MeV Si8+ swift heavy ions of fluences 1 × 1011, 1 × 1012 and 1 × 1013 ions/cm2. Detailed investigation on the effects of irradiation on microstructure is carried out by X-ray diffraction line profile analysis applying Williamson–Hall and modified Williamson–Hall methods, and transmission electron microscope observation, while atomic force microscope is used for studying the modifications in surface morphology. The band gaps are obtained from electronic absorption spectroscopy measurements, and photoluminescence spectra are recorded by spectrofluorometer. The pristine and irradiated films are polycrystalline in nature with spherical crystallites having face-centered cubic phase. The crystallite size of the pristine film is 20 nm, while films irradiated with ion fluences 1 × 1011, 1 × 1012 and 1 × 1013 ions/cm2 are 21, 20 and 20 nm, respectively. The lattice strain (dislocation density) of the pristine film is 8.9 × 10−3 (6.6 × 1016 m−2), while films irradiated with ion fluences 1 × 1011, 1 × 1012 and 1 × 1013 ions/cm2 are 8.6 × 10−3 (6.1 × 1016 m−2), 8.7 × 10−3 (6.4 × 1016 m−2) and 9.1 × 10−3 (7.0 × 1016 m−2), respectively. The dislocations present in both the pristine and irradiated films are edge in nature. The surface morphology changes significantly with elongation of the particles, increase in particle size and interparticle separation and slight decrease in rms roughness after irradiation. The band gap of the pristine film is 2.51 eV which remains unaltered after irradiation. Photoluminescence intensity increases significantly after irradiation which can be useful in enhancing the performance of different photonic devices such as light-emitting diodes, lasers and luminescence-based sensors.