Tailoring optical properties of hydrothermally synthesized SnMnSe nanocubes for optoelectronic and dielectric applications

In the current paper, we investigate the optical and dielectric properties of the SnMnSe nanocubes. The Sn0.5+xMn0.5-xSe (x = 0.375, 0.250, 0.125, 0) samples are prepared by simple hydrothermal method with the variation of the Sn and Mn concentration. The X-ray diffraction study shows that all the prepared samples are polycrystalline in nature. The average crystallite size increases along with the dislocation density and the average strain value with the increase in the Mn concentration. The morphology shows the formation of nanocubes. The average size of the cubes increases with the increase of Mn content. The reflectance data demonstrate the decreasing order of absorption edges with the increase of Mn content in the sample. The variation of the absorption edges with Mn content tends to decrease the optical bandgap by creating more disorder and defects between the gap region. Broad orange-red photoluminescence emission is observed for all the samples with 532 nm excitation. The electrical study of the sample shows high resistance values. The dielectric behavior as a function of frequency and temperature is investigated, and parameters like dielectric constant, AC conductivity, impedance spectroscopy, and electric modulus are deeply analyzed. The dielectric properties are useful for energy storage applications. All the above optical and dielectric properties of the SnMnSe matrix have potential use in the field of optoelectronics and dielectric applications.