Abstract
Lead chalcogenides and their solid solutions having detecting and lasing capabilities are of great scientific and technological importance. High-quality polycrystalline thin films of semiconductor lead chalcogenides (PbS, PbSe and PbTe) have been deposited onto ultra-clean conducting glass substrates by vacuum evaporation and then metal (gold) contacts were deposited over the films so obtained. The I-V characteristics of Schottky barrier junctions of metal 'gold' with semiconductor 'lead chalcogenides' have been investigated and parameters such as barrier height and ideality factor were determined. It has been suggested that in all the undertaken Schottky barrier junctions, the current transport is through thermionic emission.