Dependent Carrier Research Articles

Temperature dependent carrier mobility in organic field-effect transistors: The role of dielectrics

It has been shown that the use of a ferroelectric dielectric in 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) field-effect transistors (FETs) results in a negative coefficient of carrier mobility, a signature of a band-like transport, above a certain temperature [A. Laudari and S. Guha, Phys. Rev. Appl. 6, 044007 (2016)]. Along with spontaneous polarization, polymer ferroelectric dielectrics offer a platform for tuning interfacial transport in FETs as their dielectric constant may vary nearly by an order of magnitude with temperature. In this work, we explore a variety of organic and inorganic dielectrics with varying dielectric constants on the temperature-dependent transport properties of TIPS-pentacene organic FETs to obtain a comprehensive insight into the role of energetic disorder and trap states. In particular, a high κ dielectric, Al2O3, shows an activated transport throughout the temperature regime, whereas the ferroelectric copolymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (PVDF-TrFE), with comparable and even higher values of κ compared to Al2O3, above 200 K shows a very different behavior. Additionally, the external poling condition of the PVDF-TrFE dielectric plays a role. We attribute the band-like negative coefficient of carrier mobility, observed at high temperatures, in TIPS-pentacene FETs with unpoled PVDF-TrFE to a polarization fluctuation process and explore this phenomenon using the concept of transport energy.

Imaging Interstitial Iron Concentrations in Gallium‐Doped Silicon Wafers

In this work, the established method of iron imaging is transferred from B‐doped silicon to Ga‐doped material. For this purpose, the pairing and splitting conditions are investigated and a preparation procedure suggested that ensures a sufficient fraction of iron–gallium pairing and splitting, respectively. Furthermore the defect parameters available in literature are compared and evaluated for a suitable description of the injection dependent carrier lifetime measurements. A parameter set that enables a coherent and adequate iron evaluation is suggested. Thus, a robust method for spatially resolved determination of the interstitial iron concentration in Ga‐doped silicon wafers is presented.

Isomer dependent molecular packing and carrier mobility of N-phenylcarbazole–phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole based materials as hosts for efficient electrophosphorescence devices

A phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazole derivative with enhanced carrier mobility was developed for high brightness and low efficiency roll-off phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes.

Nanoscale mapping of carrier collection in single nanowire solar cells using X-ray beam induced current.

Here it is demonstrated how nanofocused X-ray beam induced current (XBIC) can be used to quantitatively map the spatially dependent carrier collection probability within nanostructured solar cells. The photocurrent generated by a 50 nm-diameter X-ray beam was measured as a function of position, bias and flux in single p-i-n doped solar-cell nanowires. The signal gathered mostly from the middle segment decays exponentially toward the p- and n-segments, with a characteristic decay length that varies between 50 nm and 750 nm depending on the flux and the applied bias. The amplitude of the XBIC shows saturation at reverse bias, which indicates that most carriers are collected. At forward bias, the relevant condition for solar cells, the carrier collection is only efficient in a small region. Comparison with finite element modeling suggests that this is due to unintentional p-doping in the middle segment. It is expected that nanofocused XBIC could be used to investigate carrier collection in a wide range of nanostructured solar cells.

Influence of shape on the carrier relaxation dynamics of CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals.

Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have recently emerged as a new class of functional materials for designing efficient light harvesting systems because of their unique photophysical properties. Here, we report the influence of different shapes on the relaxation dynamics of perovskite nanocrystals. The structural transformation of CsPbBr3 NCs from cubic shape to rod shape occurs by changing the solvent from toluene to dichloromethane (DCM). Rietveld analysis reveals that the crystallinity along with the preferred orientation (PO) of the orthorhombic phase plays a vital role for the unidirectional growth of rod shaped CsPbBr3 NCs in DCM. Time-resolved emission spectroscopy and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy are used to understand the photoinduced relaxation processes. Global and target analysis of femto-second transient absorption kinetics has been done to understand the individual excited-state species. The analysis reveals that trap states play an important role in the carrier relaxation dynamics of cubic and rod shaped NCs. The lifetime of the shallow trap (ST) changes from 25 ps to 45 ps and the lifetime of the deep trap (DT) state changes from 163 ps to 303 ps with changing the shape of the nanocrystals from cubic to rod. This work highlights the tuning of the crystal phase, shape and the exciton dynamics of CsPbBr3 NCs that would be beneficial for designing efficient photovoltaic devices.

Molecular Characterization and Tissue Distribution of Mitochondrial Ca2+ -Dependent Solute Carrier Protein during Prevention of Diapause by HCl Treatment in the Silkworm, Bombyx mori.

To clarify the molecular mechanism of prevention of entry into diapause in Bombyx mori by HCl treatment, we biochemically analyzed mitochondrial Ca2+ -dependent solute carrier protein (MCSC) in diapause eggs treated with HCl solution. Our previous studies revealed that HCl treatment causes Ca2+ to efflux from diapause eggs. Therefore, we attempted to analyze MCSC, which is known to associate with Ca2+ . The isolated cDNA of B. mori MCSC (BmMCSC) had an open reading flame (ORF) of 667 amino acid residues, and the ORF contained two EF-hand calcium-binding domains and three characteristic features of the mitochondrial solute carrier superfamily. The gene expression level of BmMCSC increased by HCl treatment. A Ca2+ binding assay indicated that recombinant BmMCSC (rBmMCSC) shows an affinity with Ca2 + . The distribution of BmMCSC was investigated with an immunohistochemical technique using antisera against BmMCSC in diapause eggs and HCl-treated diapause eggs. BmMCSC was localized in serosa cells in both eggs. These data may suggest that BmMCSC is activated by intracellular Ca2+ or efflux Ca2+ by HCl treatment, and that it plays a role in the molecular mechanisms of artificial diapause prevention or the breaking of diapause in the silkworm.

Evolution of field dependent carrier trapping during off-state degradation for GaN based metal oxide semiconductor high electron mobility transistors

We have shown that the off-state degradation in GaN based metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors has three field dependent regimes. We have considered Al2O3 and AlOxNy as the gate dielectrics. The degradation is dominated by electron trapping near the drain edge at relatively low electric field; hole trapping followed by structural defects tends to dominate at high electric field. The structural defects may potentially be caused by an inverse piezoelectric effect when the AlGaN/GaN interface may relax partially. The hole trapping, in particular, at moderate to high electric field can lead to an anomalous trend. The off-state drain current bears the signature of the degradation. The transistor performance is found to deteriorate for all the cases independent of the degradation mechanism. The trapping contribution toward the degradation is partially recoverable; however, the structural damage is found to be permanent. It is also observed that both the gate dielectrics qualitatively suffer from the same degradation mechanism with oxynitride high electron mobility transistors showing higher resilience than their oxide counterpart.

Carrier transport behavior in as-deposited and iodine-doped plasma polymerized 2, 6-diethylaniline thin films

The temperature dependent electrical carrier transport properties of as-deposited and iodine-doped plasma polymerized 2, 6-diethylaniline (PPDEA) thin films of different thicknesses prepared using a capacitively coupled glow discharge reactor at room temperature were investigated. The FTIR analyses show that iodine doping process occurred at the quinoid units in the polyaniline backbone of PPDEA. The activation energy (ΔE) of both types of PPDEA thin films suggests hopping type conduction of carriers between the localized states at temperatures ranging from 298 K to 423 K. The ΔE in the higher temperature region suggests a thermally activated charge carrier transition mechanism in the energy band gap. The ΔE of as-deposited PPDEA thin films is higher for the applied voltages of 5 and 15 V as compared to those for the iodine-doped ones. The lower value of ∆E of iodine-doped PPDEA thin films indicates formation of charge-transfer-complex.

Deviation from the Kohler’s rule and Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations in type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2: High magnetic field study up to 56 T

We have measured magnetoresistance of type-II Weyl semimetal WTe2 in high magnetic fields of B//c up to B = 56 T using a high quality single crystal with the residual resistivity ratio 1330. A Kohler plot demonstrates the existence of a deviation from the B2 dependence. Significant deviation from Kohler’s rule appears with increasing temperature, indicating wave-vector k dependent anisotropic carrier scattering, which develops with increasing temperature. The fast-Fourier-transform spectra of the observed large-amplitude Shubnikov–de Haas oscillations confirm the existence of four fundamental and one additional (cyclotron frequency of 255 T) peaks. The amplitude of the latter one increases anomalously with increasing field, confirming this oscillation being due to magnetic breakdown (or magnetic breakthrough) between the two cyclotron orbits of the adjacent hole pockets.

Surface polarons and optical micro-cavity modulated broad range multi-mode emission of Te-doped CdS nanowires

The optical confinement and strong carrier coupling within a semiconductor nanostructure cavity are crucial for the modulation of emission properties. Fundamental understanding of the light–matter interaction in a low dimensional system is important. In this paper, we synthesized high-quality hexagonal Te-doped CdS nanowires by two-step chemical vapor deposition and investigated systematically the doping concentration, temperature, excitation power, excitation wavelength dependent Raman, photoluminescence and carrier lifetime decay. Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry and x-ray diffraction confirmed Te-doping in the as-prepared samples. The strong surface optical (SO) phonon mode is observed in the micro-Raman spectra of an individual Te–CdS nanowire, which is unsuitable in large-sized structures. In situ micro-photoluminescence (μ-PL) characterization shows dominant confined defect state emission with whispering gallery mode (WGM) characteristics. The emission peak position shifts under increased excitation power, demonstrating the inelastic scattering by bound carriers. In addition, the short wavelength emission modes are dominant at a low temperature (80 K) while the long wavelength emission modes are dominant at a high temperature (300 K) due to different recombination processes contributing to the WGM resonant bands, which was also confirmed by the time-resolved PL measurement. All these results reflect strong coupling between the surface evanescent-wave in the WGM cavity and the SO phonon/polaron, which will facilitate the rational tailoring of surface/interface relevant properties for nanophotonic device applications.

Donors and deep acceptors in β-Ga2O3

We have studied the properties of Si, Ge shallow donors and Fe, Mg deep acceptors in β-Ga2O3 through temperature dependent van der Pauw and Hall effect measurements of samples grown by a variety of methods, including edge-defined film-fed, Czochralski, molecular beam epitaxy, and low pressure chemical vapor deposition. Through simultaneous, self-consistent fitting of the temperature dependent carrier density and mobility, we are able to accurately estimate the donor energy of Si and Ge to be 30 meV in β-Ga2O3. Additionally, we show that our measured Hall effect data are consistent with Si and Ge acting as typical shallow donors, rather than shallow DX centers. The high temperature Hall effect measurement of Fe doped β-Ga2O3 indicates that the material remains weakly n-type even with the Fe doping, with an acceptor energy of 860 meV relative to the conduction band for the Fe deep acceptor. Van der Pauw measurements of Mg doped Ga2O3 indicate an activation energy of 1.1 eV, as determined from the temperature dependent conductivity.

Si/ZnO heterostructures for efficient diode and water-splitting applications

We have developed thin zinc oxide (ZnO) layers protected highly conductive p-type silicon (Si) electrodes and investigated their diode and photoanode characteristics. ZnO layers have been deposited on the glass as well as p-Si substrates at a temperature of 400 °C by pulsed spray pyrolysis method. The crystal structure, surface morphology, and phase purity of the layers along with electrical characteristics of the heterostructures were investigated. Finally, the photocatalytic water oxidation performance of the ZnO/Si structures was studied in an alkaline electrolyte solution (pH = 10). The as-grown devices exhibited excellent diode characteristics with a turn-on voltage of 4.5 V, and applied bias-voltage dependent carrier transport mechanisms. As compared to bare Si, ZnO coated Si-based PEC devices showed good stability and durability along with very low onset potential of 0.07 V versus Ag/AgCl.

Automated open-source software for charge transport analysis in single-carrier organic semiconductor diodes

Organic electronics is an emerging technology with numerous applications in which the active layer is composed of an organic semiconductor (OSC) or blends of multiple OSC. One of the key performance parameters for such devices is the charge carrier mobility which can be evaluated by different measurement techniques. Here, we review different formalisms for extraction and analysis of hole mobilities from temperature-dependent space-charge limited conductivity (SCLC) measurements for pristine OSC as well as for binary and ternary blends as used in e.g. photovoltaic applications. The model is also applicable to n-type materials. Possible sources of measurement errors, such as the presence of traps and series resistance, are discussed. We show that by a simple method of selecting a proper experimental data range these errors can be avoided. The Murgatroyd-Gill analytical model in combination with the Gaussian Disorder Model is used to extract zero-field hole mobilities as well as estimates of the Gaussian energetic disorder in the HOMO level from experimental data. The resulting mobilities are in excellent agreement with those found from more elaborate fits to a full drift-diffusion model that includes a temperature, field and density dependent charge carrier mobility; the same holds for the Gaussian disorder of pure materials and blends with low fullerene concentration. The zero-field mobilities are also analyzed according to an Arrhenius model that was previously argued to reveal a universal mobility law; for most –but not all– material systems in the present work this framework gave an equally good fit to the experimental data as the other models. An automated fitting freeware, incorporating the different models, is made openly available for download and minimizes error, user input and SCLC data analysis time; e.g. SCLC current-voltage curves at several different temperatures can be globally fitted in a few seconds.

Few-layer 1T′ MoTe2 as gapless semimetal with thickness dependent carrier transport

Semimetal MoTe2 can be a type II Weyl semimetal in the bulk, but monolayer of this material is predicted to be quantum spin hall insulators. This dramatic change in electronic properties with number of layers is an excellent example of the dimensional effects of quantum transport. However, a detailed experimental study of the carrier transport and band structure of ultrathin semimetal MoTe2 is lacking so far. We performed magneto-transport measurements to study the conduction behavior and quantum phase coherence of 1T′ MoTe2 as a function of its thickness. We show that due to a unique two-band transport mechanism (synergetic contribution from electron conduction and hole conduction), the conduction behavior of 1T′ MoTe2 changes from metallic to p-type unipolar, and finally to ambipolar as the thickness decreases, suggesting that this effect can be used in devices by effectively controlling the thickness. Our transport studies, optical measurements and first-principles electronic structure calculations reveal that 1T′ MoTe2 remains gapless down to a few (~2–3) layers. Despite being gapless, 1T′ MoTe2 exhibits metal-insulator transition at 3-layer thickness, due to enhanced carrier localization effect.

A Physics-Based Compact Model for Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides Transistors With the Band-Tail Effect

Due to structural disorder effects, variable range hopping (VRH) transport via band-tail states has been widely observed in the transition-metal dichalcogenide field-effect transistor (TMD FET). However, this significant mechanism has not been incorporated into existing compact models. In this letter, a continuous physics-based compact model considering VRH in TMD FET is developed. Key parameters are extracted by calibration to experimental molybdenum disulfide FET. The voltage dependent carrier density and temperature dependent current characteristics are physically predicted by utilizing the general percolation theory and generalized Einstein relation. Our model is validated by the good agreement between the simulation and experimental results. Furthermore, the relationship between the disorder effects and circuit-level performances are presented. This letter is significant for material engineering and device optimization of TMD FET.

Conductivity Mapping in Graphene through Scattering-Type Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy in the Mid-Infrared and Terahertz Spectral Region with 25nm Spatial Resolution

Terahertz (THz) imaging and spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful tool for analysis of biological specimens or for studying and controlling low-energy excitations in solid-state systems [1]. One major limitation of THz spectroscopy is, however, the spatial resolution that is limited by diffraction to about 100-1000 µm, making it impossible to extract intrinsic, local material characteristics of nanoscale Graphene or other 2D-material structures or devices. Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) bypasses the diffraction limit, enabling optical measurements with extreme sub-wavelength spatial resolution of below 20 nm [2]. THz time-domain s-SNOM spectroscopy of a semiconductor static random access memory (SRAM) sample enables quantitative analysis of free carrier concentration and scattering rates of nanoscale device structures at unprecedented surface sensitivity. Similarly, THz s-SNOM measurements at single frequencies enabled highlighting highly conductive nanostructures in transistor devices [3]. Using a similar experimental concept to generate a local photo-current by THz radiation allows for studying nanoscale conductivity in a biased graphene device [4] or to characterize carrier scattering in a graphene sheet that has been encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and placed on a split metallic film [5]. Using an SRAM sample as a method to calibrate the amplitude contrast of the s-SNOM THz measurement with known free carrier concentrations the concept is extended to graphene. Single to few layer graphene on h-BN is imaged with a broadband THz pulse and reveals changing amplitude contrast independently of layer number (Fig. (a), (b), zoom in (d)). In a corresponding s-SNOM measurement carried out at 10 µm an inverted contrast can be observed (Fig. (c)). This contrast inversion is a direct consequence of the scattering frequency dependent free carrier response in graphene [6]. Extending the already established concepts of mid-IR s-SNOM imaging and spectroscopy of 2D materials [7] to the THz frequency range a plethora of fundamental and applied new insights into graphene and other 2D device structures can be expected from THz near-field nanoscopy measurements. [1] M. Tonouchi, Nat. Photonics 2007, 1, 97; [2] F. Keilmann, R. Hillenbrand, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 2004, 362, 787; [3] A. J. Huber et al. Nano Lett. 2008, 8, 3766; [4] P. Alonso-Gonzalez, et al., Nat. Nanotechnol. 2016, 12, 31; [5] B. Lundeberg, et al., Science 2017, 357, 187; [6] J. Horng et al., Phys. Rev. B 2011, 83, 165113; [7] D. N. Basov et al., Science 2016, 354, 1992. Figure 1

Spin-polarization dependent carrier recombination dynamics and spin relaxation mechanism in asymmetrically doped (110) n-GaAs quantum wells

Carrier recombination and electron spin relaxation dynamics in asymmetric n-doped (110) GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells are investigated with time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy. The experiment results reveal that the measured carrier recombination time depends strongly on the polarization of pump pulse. With the same pump photon flux densities, the recombination time of spin-polarized carriers is always longer than that of the spin-balanced carriers except at low pump photon flux densities, this anomaly originates from the polarization-sensitive nonlinear absorption effect. Differing from the traditional views, in the low carrier density regime, the D'yakonov–Perel' (DP) mechanism can be more important than the Bir–Aronov–Pikus (BAP) mechanism, since the DP mechanism takes effect, the spin relaxation time in (110) GaAs QWs is shortened obviously via asymmetric doping.

Spatially dependent carrier dynamics in single InGaN/GaN core-shell microrod by time-resolved cathodoluminescence

The optical properties of InGaN/GaN core-shell microrods are studied by time-resolved cathodoluminescence. Probing the carrier dynamics along the length of the rod from 4 to 300 K enables us to decompose radiative (τr) and non-radiative (τnr) lifetimes. At 300 K, τnr decreases from 500 at the bottom of the rod to 150 ps at its top. This variation results from an increased In-content in the upper part of the rod that causes a higher density of point defects. We further observe that thanks to the use of nonpolar m-plane growth, τr remains below 1.5 ns up to room temperature even with a thick active layer, which is promising for pushing the onset of the efficiency droop to higher current densities.

Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping and nonlinear transport in 1T/1T′−MoS2

We have studied temperature- and electric-field dependent carrier transport in single flakes of MoS$_{2}$ treated with n-butyllithium. The temperature dependence of the four-terminal resistance follows the Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping conduction mechanism. From measurements in the Ohmic and non-Ohmic regime, we estimate the localization length and the average hopping length of the carriers, as well as the effective dielectric constant. Furthermore, comparison between two- and four-probe measurements yield a contact resistance that increases significantly with decreasing temperature.

Anneal induced transformations of defects in hadron irradiated Si wafers and Schottky diodes

In this research, the anneal induced transformations of radiation defects have been studied in n-type and p-type CZ and FZ Si samples, irradiated with relativistic protons (24GeV/c) and pions (300MeV/c) using particle fluences up to 3 × 1016cm−2. The temperature dependent carrier trapping lifetime (TDTL) spectroscopy method was combined with measurements of current deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) to trace the evolution of the prevailing radiation defects. The contactless TDTL technique has been shown to be preferential when the radiation induced trap density approaches or exceeds the dopant concentration and when it is necessary to avoid modification of a detector structure due to annealing processes at elevated temperatures. The deep level spectra were complementarily examined by using DLTS spectroscopy on Schottky diodes made of irradiated Si wafer fragments. The dominant radiation defects and their transform paths under isothermal and isochronal anneals have been revealed. A good agreement between the DLTS and TDTL spectra has been obtained.