First-principles study of photoconductivity in BaTiO3 with oxygen vacancies

The photoconductivity of BaTiO_2.5 with oxygen vacancy has been studied by the linear muffin-tin orbital method in the atomic sphere approximation (LMTO-ASA). The ground-state structure of BaTiO_2.5 is obtained by minimization of the total energy. The partial densities of states show that the occupied states at the bottom of the conduction band have primarily Ti d orbital character. The photoconductivity shows that two novel features, in the low energy side, can be attributed to the intraband transition of free electronic carriers in the vicinity of the Fermi level and the interband transition of the Ti 3d(yz) related band states, to the Ti 3d(xy,xz) related band states, respectively. In addition, it is also found that the anisotropy of photoconductivity is enhanced because of the introduction of oxygen vacancy. The system can show the conductive behavior of electronic carriers, which is qualitatively in agreement with a recent experimental finding.     

Effect of Ultraviolet Light on Hybrid Zinc Oxide Polymer Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

Compared to conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-（3＇ ,7＇-dimethyloctyloxy）-l,4-phenylenevinylene] （MDMO-PPV） solar cells, bulk heterojunction solar cells composed of zinc oxide （ZnO） nanocrystals and MDMO-PPV have a better energy conversion efficiency. However, ultraviolet （UV） light deteriorates the performance of solar cells composed of ZnO and MDMO-PPV. We propose a model to explain the effect of UV illumination on these ZnO：MDMO-PPV solar cells. According to this model, the degradation from UV illumination is due to a decrease of exciton dissociation efficiency. Our model is based on the experimentM results such as the measurements of current density versus voltage, photoluminescence, and photocurrent.     

Low-cost 3D nanocomposite solar cells obtained by electrodeposition of CuInSe2

Thin CuInSe₂ films have been prepared by electrodeposition from a single bath aqueous solution on both dense and nanoporous TiO₂. The films are deposited potentiostatically using a N₂-purged electrolyte at different potentials. Various deposition times and solution compositions have been employed. The effect of annealing in air and in argon at different temperatures and times is also investigated. Thin films and nanocomposites of TiO₂ and CuInSe₂ have been studied with electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and optical absorption spectroscopy. After a thermal anneal in argon at 350 °C for 30 min excellent CuInSe₂ is obtained. In particular the nominal crystal structure and the bandgap of 1.0 eV are found. Although pinholes are present occasionally, good samples with diode curves showing a rectification ratio of 24 at ±1 V are obtained. Upon irradiation with simulated solar light of 1000 W m⁻² a clear photoconductivity response is observed. Furthermore, also some photovoltaic energy conversion is found in TiO₂|CuInSe₂ nanocomposites.     

Correlation of atomic force microscopy detecting local conductivity and micro‐Raman spectroscopy on polymer–fullerene composite films

Thin hetero‐junction composite films of polymer (electron donor) and fullerene (electron acceptor) are prepared on indium‐tin‐oxide coated glass by spin‐coating from solution in dichlorobenzene. Optimized atomic force microscopy (AFM) parameters allowed us to scan these soft composite films in contact mode and to measure their local conductivity with high lateral resolution by current‐sensing AFM. The morphology and local conductivity data are correlated with Kelvin force microscopy and micro‐Raman mapping and discussed with view to their photovoltaic properties. Regions with both compounds present are compared to areas where the components segregated, acting as shunts of the junction. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Influence of charge carrier mobility on the performance of organic solar cells

The power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells based on donor–acceptor blends is governed by an interplay of polaron pair dissociation and bimolecular polaron recombination. Both processes are strongly dependent on the charge carrier mobility, the dissociation increasing with faster charge transport, with raised recombination losses at the same time. Using a macroscopic effective medium simulation, we calculate the optimum charge carrier mobility for the highest power conversion efficiency, for the first time accounting for injection barriers and a reduced Langevin‐type recombination. An enhancement of the charge carrier mobility from 10^–8 m²/V s for state of the art polymer–fullerene solar cells to about 10^–6 m²/V s, which yields the maximum efficiency, corresponds to an improvement of only about 20% for the given parameter set. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Thermally Activated Photoconduction and Alternating-Current Conduction in Se75Ge20Ag5 Chalcogenide Glass: Investigation of Meyer--Neldel Rule

We report on the observation of Meyer-Neldel rule in glassy Se75Ge20Ag5 alloy where AE is varied by two different methods. In the first approach, the intensity of light varies while measuring the photoconductivity in amorphous thin films of Se75Ge20Ag5 instead of changing composition of the glassy system. In the second approach, the variation of ac conductivity with temperature is found to be exponential and the activation energy is found to vary with frequency.     

Conduction in magnesium phthalocyanine thin films with aluminium electrodes

The various electrical properties and the nature of conduction mechanisms of magnesium phthalocyanine thin film devices with top and bottom aluminium electrodes have been investigated. The conduction mechanism was identified as injection limited essentially due to the electrode material. Even with the same electrode materials, the device showed asymmetric conduction behavior in the forward and reverse bias. In general the conduction was interpreted as a Schottky emission with barrier height Φ_s=1.07 eV for the forward bias and Φ_s=1.09 eV in the reverse bias. The effect of oxygen on the conductivity of the device has also been investigated. In the oxygen doped samples the conductivity is decreased which may be attributed to an interfacial layer between the electrode and the organic layer. Further in the oxygen doped sample while a Schottky emission is observed at lower voltages Poole-Frenkel conductivity was identified in the higher voltage region.     

Preparation of pulse plated GaAs films

Thin GaAs films were prepared by pulse plating from an aqueous solution containing 0.20 M GaCl₃ and 0.15 M As₂O₃ at a pH of 2 and at room temperature. The current density was kept as 50 mA cm⁻² the duty cycle was varied in the range 10-50%. The films were deposited on titanium, nickel and tin oxide coated glass substrates. Films exhibited polycrystalline nature with peaks corresponding to single phase GaAs. Optical absorption measurements indicated a direct band gap of 1.40 eV. Photoelectrochemical cells were made using the films as photoelectrodes and graphite as counter electrode in 1 M polysulphide electrolyte. At 60 mW cm⁻² illumination, an open circuit voltage of 0.5 V and a short circuit current density of 5.0 mA cm⁻² were observed for the films deposited at a duty cycle of 50%.     

Ultraviolet photoconductive detector based on Al doped ZnO films prepared by sol-gel method

We report a study on the fabrication and characterization of ultraviolet photodetectors based on ZnO:Al films. Using sol-gel technique, highly c-axis oriented ZnO films with 5 mol% Al doping were deposited on Si(1 1 1) substrates. The photoconductive UV detectors based on ZnO:Al thin films, having a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) structure with interdigital (IDT) configuration, were fabricated by using Au as a contact metal. The characteristics of dark and photocurrent of the UV detector and the UV photoresponse of the detector were investigated. The linear current-voltage (I-V) characteristics under both forward and reverse bias exhibit ohmic metal-semiconductor contacts. Under illumination using monochromatic light with a wavelength of 350 nm, photo-generated current was measured at 58.05 μA at a bias of 6 V. The detector exhibits an evident wide-range spectral responsivity and shows a trend similar to that in transmittance and photoluminescence spectrum.     

Significant modifications in the electrical properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) thin films upon dispersion of silver nanoparticles

Electrical conductivity of thin solid films of PMMA with dispersed silver nanoparticles, synthesized by a novel method, was studied in dark conditions by changing the applied voltage and temperature and also under photoexcitation (by a mercury lamp, 125 W) at room temperature. Anomalous hysteresis in current-temperature characteristics during heating and cooling cycles was observed. The hysteresis-like behaviour was explained on the basis of the movements of molecules associated with different parts of a PMMA matrix and diffusion of silver nanoparticles in the PMMA matrix. Dark current in the PMMA films with dispersed silver nanoparticles has been observed to be higher than the corresponding current in the PMMA films without silver nanoparticles due to the creation of conduction paths by the silver nanoparticles/nanoclusters. The photoresponse in the thin solid films of PMMA with dispersed silver nanoparticles was the reverse of that observed in thin solid films of PMMA without silver nanoparticles. A decrease in photocurrent under illumination of light was observed due to the destruction of conduction paths by the illumination of light.