Morphological Evolution of PbSe Crystals via the CVD Route

The growth of highly faceted PbSe microcrystals from the aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of novel lead phosphonodiselenoato compounds (Pb[Ph(RO)PSe2]2, where R is a methyl group (Me) (1) or an ethyl group (Et) (2)) is reported. This is the first such example of growth using a CVD technique. As-deposited materials are analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDAX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Raman spectroscopy. During the deposition studies, it has been found that the resulting morphologies are strongly dependent on the growth temperature, as a result of kinetics.