Unstrained PbSe/CdSe core shell nanostructures for broad band absorber and narrow band IR emitters

The purpose of this work is to establish structural, morphological and optical properties of PbSe quantum dots (QDs) and PbSe/CdSe core/shell nanostructures (C/S NSs) for application as broad band absorber and narrow band emitters. These NSs were synthesized using chemical bath deposition technique. The structural properties were studied using X-ray diffraction technique with Rietveld refinement and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The surface morphology of synthesized thin film was established using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The optical properties were explained using UV–Vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy with electron–hole recombination process. A comparison of estimated crystallite size from XRD, high resolution AFM and TEM images was resulted in good agreement as ~ 6.2 ± 0.5 and ~ 6.5 ± 0.5 nm for PbSe QDs and PbSe/CdSe C/S NSs respectively.These obtained properties of self-assembled PbSe/CdSe C/S NSs are expected to be useful in the development of broad band absorber and narrowband IR emitters and solar cells.