High-speed scanning photocurrent imaging techniques on nanoscale devices

We report the characterization of individual carbon nanotube and Si nanowire field-effect transistors through high-speed scanning photocurrent microscopy with a scanning speed of 1 frame/s and a photocurrent sensitivity of less than 1 pA. This enables us to record photocurrent images that are free from hysteresis effects that modify the field configurations applied by the gate bias voltage. We can clearly resolve the photocurrent signals with polarity inversion near the metallic contacts under gate bias conditions which cause severe hysteresis effects in the nanowire devices. We also studied the dynamics of the hysteresis effects for different gate bias configurations. This high-speed photocurrent imaging technique is particularly useful for obtaining two-dimensional, localized optoelectronic characteristics and their correlation with overall device performance without encountering undesired dynamic responses.     

Effect of the oligothiophene chain length on the performance of organic photovoltaic cells

We investigate photovoltaic cells based on α-oligothiophene molecules with different chain lengths nT (n=4,6,8) deposited on a sandwich structure between two electrodes: ITO and Al. From the analysis of the absorption and photocurrent spectrum, we have shown that the structure of the oligothiophene affects considerably the absorbing character of the evaporated film, which is increasingly significant from 4T towards 8T, and a significant photocurrent in agreement with strong absorption in the region Al/nT. Moreover, a theoretical model of Ghosh is used to display the photocurrent origin, proved to be sufficient after adjustment with a random term. Then we deduce that the crystalline order of the film improves the transport of charge and the photocurrent. The results are confirmed by electrical characterization under illumination that shows effectively an influence of the expansion of the molecular chains on the increase in the energy efficiencies and on the performances of organic photovoltaic cells.     

Thin-film capacitor M/Pb(ZrTi)O3/M as a polarization-sensitive photocell

A steady-state short-circuit photocurrent of preliminarily polarized submicron capacitors with a polycrystalline Pb(ZrTi)O₃ (PZT) film is investigated under irradiation by light with a wavelength λ > 0.4 μm. The structures with different M/PZT interfaces that differ in the leakage current by more than an order of magnitude are found to demonstrate virtually the same value of the photocurrent, which is always directed opposite to the ferroelectric polarization of the PZT film. Although the magnitude of photocurrent is determined by the degree of polarization of the film, the observed photocurrent is not a depolarization current of the ferroelectric film. Therefore, the M/PZT/M capacitor behaves like a polarization-sensitive photocell. Within the proposed theory of a heterophase medium, the dependence of the photocurrent on the magnitude of the preliminary polarization is calculated and proves to be in reasonable agreement with the experimental results.

     

量子阱共振腔增强型光电探测器的高功率特性

通过测量1.55 μm量子阱共振腔增强型光电探测器的光电流随反向电压和光功率的变化关系,以及模拟能带结构、电场分布等特性,研究了量子阱共振腔增强型光电探测器的高功率特性.分析了光电流的产生机制,测量了1.064 μm量子阱共振腔增强型光电探测器的光电响应,模拟了具有不同势垒高度的量子阱共振腔增强型光电探测器的光电响应.从实验和模拟两方面证明了量子阱的势垒高度是影响量子阱共振腔增强型光电探测器高功率特性的最主要因素.     

XPS studies and photocurrent applications of alkali-metals-doped ZnO nanoparticles under visible illumination conditions

The present work is a study about a relationship between X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) results and photocurrent intensity of alkali-metals-elements doped ZnO nanoparticles, which is carried out under visible illumination conditions. The nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple sol–gel method. Structure and morphology studies of the NPs were carried out by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effect of doping on the optical band-gap was investigated by using UV–visible spectrometer. The absorption peak of the doped ZnO NPs was red-shifted with respect to that of the undoped ZnO NPs. After that, the photocurrent application of the products was examined under a white light source at 2 V bias. The photocurrent results showed that, the current intensity of the ZnO NPs was increased by doping materials. However, K-doped ZnO NPs showed the highest photocurrent intensity. Finally, a discussion was carried out about the obtained photocurrent results by the O-1s spectra of the XPS of the samples. Our results suggest that the alkali-metals-doped ZnO NPs exhibit considerable promise for highly sensitive visible-light photodetectors.     

Influence of a Time-Dependent Applied Electric Field on the Photocurrent in Photorefractive Materials

From the differential material rate equations, we found an additional term to the usual expression of the photocurrent, which appears only when a time-dependent external electric field is applied. This term influences the photocurrent in the material. We applied our equations to a Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ sample, under an applied sinusoidal electric field. This sample is illuminated with an oscillating interference pattern formed by two plane light waves, one of which is phase-modulated with frequency ω. We found good agreement with experimental results. Besides, for this case, our prediction for the photocurrent is better than the usual prediction of the photocurrent for low values of ω.     

Evolution of Photocurrent during Coadsorption of Cs and O on GaAs （100）

The photocurrent and spectral response characteristics of gallium arsenide （GaAs） are obtained by a multiinformation measurement system, and the evolution of the photocurrent versus the Cs：O flux ratio is investigated. The experimental results show that the photocurrent increases approximately exponentially after the first exposure to Cs until a maximum sensitivity is reached, the detailed evolution process and the ultimate photocurrent are different for different samples. These differences are analysed, and according to the process of coadsorption of Cs and oxygen on GaAs, an equation is presented to explain the increase of photocurrent.     

Changes in the photoconductivity of sputtered films of cadmium sulphide resulting from sulphur dioxide chemisorption

The effect which SO₂ has on the photocurrent flowing parallel to the surface in sputtered thin films of cadmium sulphide is investigated. The photocurrent was observed to be inversely related to the partial pressure of SO₂ in a flowing N₂ environment. A theoretical model previously derived to characterize the CdSO₂ interaction is shown to properly characterize the CdSSO₂ interaction. The steady-state photocurrent is shown to be inversely related to the logarithm of the gas partial pressure as predicted by theory. These experimental data further substantiate the previously derived theoretical model and show that thin films can be used as gas detectors.     

On the possibility of determining the diffusion length of excitons in semiconductors from photomagnetic measurement data

The effect of a magnetic field on the photocurrent I_ph in Si and GaAs solar cells is investigated. It is shown that the observed change in the photocurrent I_ph of the solar cells in response to a magnetic field can be caused by a decrease in the diffusion length of excitons L_exc. A simplified model of the photomagnetic experiment is proposed to estimate the diffusion length of excitons L_exc and the contribution made by excitons to the photocurrent of the solar cells.     

MEH-PPV/CdSe纳米复合器件的光电导特性的研究

以CdO和Se粉作为前驱物,在TOPO/TOP有机体系中制备了CdSe纳米晶,将其与聚合物MEH-PPV复合制备了复合光电导器件,研究了它的光电导特性,并将其与单层MEH-PPV光电导器件的特性进行了比较。结果发现纳米复合光电导器件的光电流响应光谱的2个峰的位置基本上与MEH-PPV和CdSe纳米晶的吸收峰的位置相对应,这说明CdSe纳米晶和聚合物MEH-PPV的吸收对光电流都有贡献,主要是由于CdSe纳米晶和MEH-PPV界面处的激子离化和电荷转移造成的。而且复合器件的光电流较单层有所增强,且MEH-PPV器件光谱的响应范围更宽。     

Circular photocurrent in Ag/Pd resistive films upon excitation by femtosecond laser pulses

This paper presents the results of the experimental investigation of the generation of nanosecond photocurrent pulses in silver–palladium (Ag/Pd) resistive films under excitation by laser pulses with a duration of 120 fs at a wavelength of 795 nm. The photocurrent was detected in the direction perpendicular to the plane of incidence of the laser beam on the film. The 20-μm-thick films under investigation were a porous polycrystalline material consisting predominantly of nanocrystallites of the palladium oxide PdO and the Ag–Pd solid solution. The direction of the photocurrent observed in the films depends on the sign of the circular polarization of the incident radiation. It was found that the observed photocurrent depends on the angle of incidence in accordance with the odd law and consists of the circular and linear contributions, which are dependent on and independent of the sign of the circular polarization, respectively. It was shown that the circular photocurrent is significantly higher than the linear photocurrent. It was established that, for both the circular and linear polarizations, the photocurrent is directly proportional to the power of the excitation radiation. For the linearly polarized laser radiation, the photocurrent depends on the polarization angle in accordance with the odd law. The regularities revealed are consistent with the mechanism of the generation of transverse photocurrent with the photon drag effect.     

Anisotropy of photocurrent for two-photon absorption photodetector made of hemispherical silicon with $(\overline{1}10)$ plane

We fabricated a hemispherical nearly-intrinsic Si-based photodetector with ( plane. The photocurrent generated from the detector under a continuous wave laser at the wavelength of 1.3 μm was observed. The photocurrent shows a quadratic dependence on the incident optical power. The dependence of the photocurrent on the azimuth of the incident optical field is consistent with the anisotropy of the two-photon absorption in Si crystals. The ratio of the two nonzero independent components of the third-order susceptibility of silicon is obtained to be 0.42 from the observed result of the anisotropy of the photocurrent.     

Ultrafast photocurrent measurement of the escape time of electrons and holes from carbon nanotube p-i-n photodiodes

Ultrafast photocurrent measurements are performed on individual carbon nanotube p-i-n photodiodes. The photocurrent response to subpicosecond pulses separated by a variable time delay Δt shows strong photocurrent suppression when two pulses overlap (Δt=0). The picosecond-scale decay time of photocurrent suppression scales inversely with the applied bias V(SD), and is twice as long for photon energy above the second subband E22 as compared to lower energy. The observed photocurrent behavior is well described by an escape time model that accounts for carrier effective mass.     

Phase shift analysis of modulated photocurrent: Determination of the energy scale

For the determination of the density of states in the mobility gap of amorphous semiconductors using the phase shift analysis of modulated photocurrent, this paper suggests that making use of the magnitude of the induced photocurrent helps to remove arbitrariness in the energy scale. The working equations for the density of states and the corresponding energy position are expressed in terms of the intensity of the photocurrent. A simulation is made for a specific distribution, to investigate the validity of the procedure. The results show that the profile of the energetic distribution of localized states and the exact energy position of each state are consistent with the original distribution considered.     

Frequency-resolved photocurrent studies of a-Se

 Optically modulated photocurrent response of amorphous selenium (a-Se) thin films was measured between 20 K and 295 K, by using the in-quadrature frequency-resolved spectroscopy method. The results show that the modulated photocurrent depends on external parameters such as excitation light intensity and temperature, giving information about recombination kinetics. Received, 28 July 1996 /Accepted: 20 September 1996     

Photocurrent analysis of organic photovoltaic cells based on CuPc/C60 with Alq3 as a buffer layer

The performance of an organic photovoltaic(OPV) cell based on copper phthalocyanine CuPc/C60 with a tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum(Alq3) buffer layer has been investigated.It was found that the power conversion efficiency of the device was 1.51% under illumination with an intensity of 100 mW/cm2,which was limited by a squareroot dependence of the photocurrent on voltage.The photocurrent-optical power density characteristics showed that the OPV cell had a significant space-charge limited photocurrent with a varied saturation voltage and a three quarters power dependence on optical power density.Also,the absorption spectrum was measured by a spectrophotometer,and the results showed that the additional Alq3 layer has a minor effect on photocurrent generation.     

Orbital mechanism of the circular photogalvanic effect in quantum wells

It is shown that the free-carrier (Drude) absorption of circularly polarized radiation in quantum well structures leads to an electric current flow. The photocurrent reverses its direction upon switching the light helicity. A pure orbital mechanism of such a circular photogalvanic effect is proposed that is based on the interference of different pathways contributing to light absorption. Calculation shows that the magnitude of the helicity-dependent photocurrent in n-doped quantum well structures corresponds to recent experimental observations. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Photocurrent in gyrotropic Weyl semimetals

Photocurrents in the Weyl semimetals belonging to the gyrotropic symmetry classes have been theoretically studied. It has been shown that the circular photocurrent transverse to the direction of light incidence appears in weakly gyrotropic crystals with the C _nv (n = 3, 4, 6) symmetry only when spin-dependent terms both linear and quadratic or cubic in the quasimomentum, as well as a spin-independent term resulting in the tilt of the cone dispersion, are taken into account in the electron effective Hamiltonian. A polarization-independent magnetic-field-induced photocurrent, which is allowed only in gyrotropic systems, has been predicted. For crystals with the C_2v symmetry, a microscopic mechanism of the photocurrent in a quantized magnetic field, which is generated in direct optical transitions between the ground and first excited magnetic subbands, has been considered. It has been shown that this photocurrent becomes nonzero in the presence of the anisotropic tilt of dispersion cones.     

Photo-Hall study of the optically enhanced photocurrent in semi-insulating LEC GaAs

The photocurrent of semi-insulating GaAs is enhanced by long time excitation with photons of energy higher than 1 eV. Photo-Hall experiments on the enhanced photocurrent reveal that this is mainly due to holes, and that the mobility is increased in conditions of strong photocurrent enhancement. This is discussed on the basis of metastability of midgap levels in GaAs. Thermal annealing experiments showed that likely EL6 is involved in this phenomenon.     

聚合物/TiO2分层光电导型器件的电荷传输特性

研究了聚合物PVK与TiO₂分层光电导器件的电荷传输特性,分别比较了两种器件:器件S₁(ITO/TiO₂/PVK/Al)和器件S₂(ITO/PVK/TiO₂/Al)。实验发现,器件S₁的暗电流远小于器件S₂的暗电流,S₁的正向峰值光电流约是其反向峰值光电流的4倍,而S₂的正向和反向峰值光电流都基本与S₁的反向峰值光电流相近。这是由于PVK/TiO₂界面处有效的电荷转移、恰当的电荷传输层、器件各层间能级匹配及其与电极功函数的匹配影响了光电流的强度大小。由此判断,器件S₁的性能要优于器件S₂。随电压的增大,S₁结构的光电导响应谱在短波区域的拖尾增大,而S₂结构几乎没有拖尾,这可能是两种结构的吸收和陷阱能级的差别造成的。