Thermoelectric Properties of PbSe Epitaxial Thin Films and PbSe/EuS Heterostructures

摘要

Systematic investigations were performed of the thickness dependences of the thermoelectric properties of PbSe thin films, freshly prepared and exposed to air at room temperature. It is shown that oxidation leads to a sharp change in the thermoelectric properties of the PbSe films including a change in the sign of the dominant carrier type from n-type to p- type at d ≤ 80 nm. Using a two carrier model for thin films (d < 50 nm) and a two-layer model for thick films (d > 50 nm) allows us to give a satisfactory qualitative interpretation of the observed experimental dependences of the thermoelectric properties on the film thickness.