Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of lead sulfide quantum wells fabricated by atomic layer deposition

We report the use of scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) to investigate one-dimensional quantum confinement effects in lead sulfide (PbS) thin films. Specifically, quantum confinement effects on the band gap of PbS quantum wells were explored by controlling the PbS film thickness and potential barrier height. PbS quantum well structures with a thickness range of 1-20 nm were fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Two barrier materials were selected based on barrier height: aluminum oxide as a high barrier material and zinc oxide as a low barrier material. Band gap measurements were carried out by STS, and an effective mass theory was developed to compare the experimental results. Our results show that the band gap of PbS thin films increased as the film thickness decreased, and the barrier height increased from 0.45 to 2.19 eV.