Improved microstructure and performance of PbS thin films via in-situ thermal decomposition of lead xanthate precursors using self-assembling monolayer

Microstructure control is critical to achieve thin film-based devices with high performance. The surface properties of the substrates on which thin films grow are expected to greatly influence the morphology and the resulting performance. Generally, homogeneous, dense and highly crystalline films are required. However, “island” like structures are usually obtained mainly due to the non-uniform nucleation. In this article, the self-assembling monolayer (SAM) strategy was applied to efficiently realize the uniform nucleation and modulate the microstructure of lead sulfide (PbS) thin films, which were fabricated on the modified ZnO-coated substrates with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) SAM via in-situ thermal decomposition of lead xanthate precursors. The results showed that PbS thin films with reduced pin-holes and uniform crystalline grains were fabricated with the incorporation of MPA SAM. More importantly, PbS thin films modulated by MPA showed better photoelectric response.