Large Polaron Conduction, Photoconductivity, and Photochromism in GdO_xH_3−2x Oxyhydride Thin Films

At ambient conditions, rare-earth oxyhydride thin films show reversible photochromism and photoconductivity, while their mechanism and relation are still unclear. In this work, this question is explored with in situ time-resolved measurements of both optical and transport properties of Gd-based oxyhydride thin films. It is found that p-type...

Formamidinium-Based Dion-Jacobson Layered Hybrid Perovskites: Structural Complexity and Optoelectronic Properties

Layered hybrid perovskites have emerged as a promising alternative to stabilizing hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite materials, which are predominantly based on Ruddlesden-Popper structures. Formamidinium (FA)-based Dion-Jacobson perovskite analogs are developed that feature bifunctional organic spacers separating the hybrid perovskite slabs...

Norton Equivalent Circuit for Pulsed Photoconductive Antennas - Part II: Experimental Validation

This second part of two papers' sequence presents the experimental validation of the Norton equivalent circuit model for pulsed photoconductive antennas (PCAs) provided in the first paper of the sequence. To this goal, different prototypes of photoconductive antenna sources have been manufactured and assembled. The average powers radiated and...

Norton Equivalent Circuit for Pulsed Photoconductive Antennas-Part I: Theoretical Model

A novel equivalent circuit for pulsed photoconductive sources is introduced for describing the coupling between the photoconductive gap and the antenna. The proposed circuit effectively describes the mechanism of feeding the antenna by the semiconductor when this latter is illuminated by a laser operating in a pulsed mode. Starting from the...

Towards the Engineering of Pulsed Photoconductive Antennas

In recent years, Terahertz technology has attracted the interest of researchers for its potential applications in a variety of domains. In particular, THz sensing has found application in security screening, medical imaging, spectroscopy, and non-destructive testing. The emergence of all these applications has been driven by the availability of...

Hydrogen termination of CVD diamond films by high-temperature annealing at atmospheric pressure

A high-temperature procedure to hydrogenate diamond films using molecular hydrogen at atmospheric pressure was explored. Undoped and doped chemical vapour deposited (CVD) polycrystalline diamond films were treated according to our annealing method using a H2 gas flow down to ?50 ml/min (STP) at ?850?°C. The films were extensively evaluated by...

Improved light trapping in microcrystalline silicon solar cells by plasmonic back reflector with broad angular scattering and low parasitic absorption

We show experimentally that the photocurrent of thin-film hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (?c-Si:H) solar cells can be enhanced by 4.5?mA/cm2 with a plasmonic back reflector (BR). The light trapping performance is improved using plasmonic BR with broader angular scattering and lower parasitic absorption loss through tuning the size of...

Photoconductivity of Quantum Dot Films Towards Third-Generation Solar Cells

Colloidal semiconductor nanoparticles, also called quantum dots, have unique opto-electronic properties that make them promising candidates for many applications such as solar cells, light–emitting diodes, lasers, or biological imaging. One of the most interesting features is that the bandgap energy can be tuned by changing the particle size....

Single quantum dot nanowire photodetectors

We report InP nanowire photodetectors with a single InAsP quantum dot as light absorbing element. With excitation above the InP band gap, the nanowire photodetectors are efficient (quantum efficiency of 4%). Under resonant excitation of the quantum dot, the photocurrent amplitude depends on the linear polarization direction of the incident light...

Generation and transport of photoexcited electrons in single-crystal diamond

We report time-dependent photocurrent and transport measurements of sub-bandgap photoexcited carriers in nitrogen-rich (type Ib), single-crystal diamond. Transient carrier dynamics are characteristic of trapping conduction with long charge storage lifetimes of ? 3?hours. By measuring the photoexcited Hall effect, we confirm that the charge...

Luminescence quenching by photoionization and electron transport in a LaAlO3:Ce3+ crystal

A combined photoconductivity, absorption, and thermoluminescence study was performed to understand the absence of luminescence from Ce3+ in LaAlO3:Ce3+. It is demonstrated that the absence of luminescence is the result of Ce3+ ionization from the 5d excited states, which are all located in the conduction band. Ce3+ ionization is accompanied by...

Photogeneration and dynamics of charge carriers in the conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene)

The conjugated polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) is a promising candidate for applications in organic thin-film electronic and optoelectronic devices. This dissertation addresses fundamental issues regarding the photogeneration and recombination dynamics of charge carriers in this polymer. Measurements were carried out using an electrodeless, low...

Temperature dependent spectroscopic studies of the electron delocalization dynamics of excited Ce ions in the wide band gap insulator, Lu2SiO5

Electron delocalization processes of optically excited states of Ce3+ impurities in Lu2SiO5 were investigated by means of a temperature and spectrally resolved photoconductivity study. By monitoring separately the strength of the photocurrent resulting from excitation into each of the Ce3+?5d absorption bands, over a broad temperature region,...