Changes in the conductivity of lead-selenide thin films after plasma etching

The conductivity of epitaxial $n$- and $p$-PbSe thin films after dry etching in radio-frequency highdensity low-pressure inductively coupled argon plasma at a bombarding-ion energy of 200 eV is studied. It is shown that the observed changes in the conductivity can be adequately interpreted in the context of the classical model of the generation of donor-type radiation defects and that the processes of post-irradiation vacuum annealing result in the removal of such defects. The mean free path of charge carriers in $p$-PbSe films is determined within the context of the Fuchs–Sondheimer theory. It is found that, at room temperature, this parameter is 16 and 32 nm for the specularity parameter 0 and 0.5, respectively.