Effect of Cd and Pb impurities on the optical properties of fresh evaporated amorphous (As2Se3)90Ge10 thin films

Transmission spectra (400–1500 nm) of thermally evaporated amorphous [(As2Se3)90Ge10]95M5 thin films have been analyzed to study the effect of impurities (M = Cd and Pb) on their optical properties. The refractive index increases with addition of metal impurities. The dispersion of refractive index has been studied using Wemple–DiDomenico single oscillator model. The optical gap has been estimated using Tauc’s extrapolation and was found to decrease with the addition of metal impurities from 1.46 to 1.36 eV (Cd) and 1.41 eV (Pb) with an uncertainty of ±0.01 eV. The change in optical properties with metal impurities has been explained on the basis of density, polarizability and bond energy of the system.