Wide angle x-ray diffraction studies of nanocrystalline lead europium sulfide

In this letter, we report the characterization of lead sulfide (PbS), europium sulfide (EuS), and lead europium sulfide (Pb1−xEuxS) nanocrystals using wide-angle x-ray scattering analysis. The results confirmed the high purity and crystallinity of the nanomaterials. In complement to previous studies on this family of ternary materials, the Pb1−xEuxS nanocrystals were well alloyed, with no evidence of phase separation, which bodes well for their implementation in optical and magnetic device applications.

► Synchrotron wide-angle x-ray scattering analysis can resolve diffraction peaks in a ternary rare earth chalcogenide nanomaterial system. ► Lead europium sulfide nanoparticles remained miscible at concentrations of up to 7% europium. ► Presence of strong x-ray rings from presumed amorphous plastic PPMS capsules can give a clearer analysis of nanomaterials.