Growth and Characterization of β‐HgS Thin Films by Annealing Hg²⁺‐Dithiol Self‐Assembled Multilayers

Abstract

Hg²⁺‐dithiol self‐assembled multilayers were constructed by alternatively depositing mercury ion and 1, 6‐hexanedithiol. Cubic β‐HgS thin films were obtained by annealing the self‐assembled Hg²⁺‐dithiol multilayers at 503 K for 2 h. The grain size was estimated to be 16 nm by use of the Scherrer formula from the XRD pattern. The HgS thin films showed a blue shift in band gap energy due to small grain size. The sheet resistance of the film was sensitive to UV light and the dark resistance was 4.84×10⁴ Ω/².

Keywords:

• HgS
• thin film
• dithiol
• self‐assembly
• annealing

Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by Excellent Young Teacher Program and Research Foundation of Returned Student Abroad, MOE of China. We thank the Shanghai Education Committee for support.