Photoconductivity in lead chloride and lead bromide

Abstract

Photoconductivity measurements on PbCl2 and PbBr2 at liquid nitrogen temperature are described. It was found that the holes are the dominant mobile charge carriers in these crystals. The range per unit field was estimated to be 1.2 × 10-4 cm2/V for PbBr2. For PbCl2 the ranges are 4 × 10-4 cm2/V and 0.3 × 10-4 cm2/V for surface and bulk conductivity, respectively. The wavelength dependence indicated that the first maximum at the long wavelength side of the fundamental absorption of PbBr2 and PbCl2 is an exciton peak.