Growth, surface treatment and characterization of polycrystalline lead iodide thick films prepared using close space deposition technique

Lead iodide (PbI2) polycrystalline thick films were fabricated on glass substrates with a conductive indium–tin-oxide layer using a close space deposition technique. The morphology of the as-deposited PbI2 films is typically and highly oriented polycrystalline structure, made up of microcrystal platelets upright on the substrate plane. Two techniques including the surface mechanical cutting and after-growth cadmium telluride coating were employed to improve the films′ surface properties. It was shown that both of the film surface treatment methods markedly decreased the dark current of PbI2 films. The photo-to-dark current ratio of about 2.05 under 241Am γ-ray source with activity of 2.78 μCi irradiation was obtained from the film treated using both surface cutting and after-growth CdTe coating. Charge transport characteristics of these films were measured and the hole mobility 7.7×10−2–1.67×10−1 cm2/V s was estimated.