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At least 271 records · Page 15

Time constant of defect relaxation in ion-irradiated 3 C -SiC

Above room temperature, the buildup of radiation damage in SiC is a dynamic process governed by the mobility and interaction of ballistically generated point defects. Here in this work, we study the dynamics of radiation defects in 3C-SiC bombarded at 100 °C with 500 keV Ar ions, with the total ion dose split into a train of equal pulses. Damage–depth profiles are measured by ion channeling for a series of samples irradiated under identical conditions except for different durations of the passive part of the beam cycle. Results reveal an effective defect relaxation time constant of ~3 ms (for second order kinetics) and a dynamic annealing efficiency of ~40% for defects in both Si and C sublattices. Finally, this demonstrates a crucial role of dynamic annealing at elevated temperatures and provides evidence of the strong coupling of defect accumulation processes in the two sublattices of 3C-SiC.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Design Principles for Trap-Free CsPbX 3 Nanocrystals: Enumerating and Eliminating Surface Halide Vacancies with Softer Lewis Bases

We introduce a general surface passivation mechanism for cesium lead halide perovskite materials (CsPbX 3 , X = Cl, Br, I) that is supported by a combined experimental and theoretical study of the nanocrystal surface chemistry. A variety of spectroscopic methods are employed together with ab initio calculations to identify surface halide vacancies as the predominant source of charge trapping. The number of surface traps per nanocrystal is quantified by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, and that number is consistent with a simple trapping model in which surface halide vacancies create deleterious under-coordinated lead atoms. These halide vacancies exhibit trapping behavior that differs among CsPbCl 3 , CsPbBr 3 , and CsPbI 3 . Ab initio calculations suggest that introduction of anionic X-type ligands can produce trap-free band gaps by altering the energetics of lead-based defect levels. General rules for selecting effective passivating ligand pairs are introduced by considering established principles of coordination chemistry. Introducing softer, anionic, X-type Lewis bases that target under-coordinated lead atoms results in absolute quantum yields approaching unity and monoexponential luminescence decay kinetics, thereby indicating full trap passivation. This work provides a systematic framework for preparing highly luminescent CsPbX 3 nanocrystals with variable compositions and dimensionalities, thereby improving the fundamental understanding of these materials and informing future synthetic and post-synthetic efforts toward trap-free CsPbX 3 nanocrystals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Improved performance in GaInNAs solar cells by hydrogen passivation

The effect of UV-activated hydrogenation on the performance of GaInNAs solar cells is presented. A proof-of-principle investigation was performed on non-optimum GaInNAs cells, which allowed a clearer investigation of the role of passivation on the intrinsic nitrogen-related defects in these materials. Upon optimized hydrogenation of GaInNAs, a significant reduction in the presence of defect and impurity based luminescence is observed as compared to that of unpassivated reference material. This improvement in the optical properties is directly transferred to an improved performance in solar cell operation, with a more than two-fold improvement in the external quantum efficiency and short circuit current density upon hydrogenation. Temperature dependent photovoltaic measurements indicate a strong contribution of carrier localization and detrapping processes, with non-radiative processes dominating in the reference materials, and evidence for additional strong radiative losses in the hydrogenated solar cells.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Microstructural dependence of defect formation in iron-oxide thin films

In this report passivating iron-oxide films are grown atop iron films simulating the corrosion process in a nuclear reactor environment. Two oxide films grown via physical vapor deposition at 600 °C and room temperature exhibited dense-epitactic and columnar-polycrystalline, microstructures respectively. A third oxide film grown in open air at 600 °C exhibited an eqiuaxed, porous morphology. Cubic maghemite and magnetite phases in each oxide film were identified via grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. Positron annihilation spectroscopy was used to characterize point defects and measure their depth and size distributions in each oxide layer and showed a range of average positron lifetimes from 0.23 ns in the high temperature, vapor deposited film, 0.35 ns in the room temperature-grown film, and 0.31 ns in the thermally grown oxide. These data indicate that the film morphology, which varies greatly in these films, leads to very different defect content. Finally, four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy was used to measure the internal stress of each film and was correlated to the strain state presented in the X-ray diffraction spectra. The defect formation in each film is reasoned through using a thin film growth model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Origin of Broad Emission Spectra in InP Quantum Dots: Contributions from Structural and Electronic Disorder

The ensemble emission spectra of colloidal InP quantum dots are broader than achievable spectra of cadmium- and lead-based quantum dots, despite similar single-particle line widths and significant efforts invested in the improvement of synthetic protocols. Here, we seek to explain the origin of persistently broad ensemble emission spectra of colloidal InP quantum dots by investigating the nature of the electronic states responsible for luminescence. We identify a correlation between red-shifted emission spectra and anomalous broadening of the excitation spectra of luminescent InP colloids, suggesting a trap-associated emission pathway in highly emissive core shell quantum dots. Time-resolved pump probe experiments find that s are largely untrapped on photoluminescence relevant time scales pointing to emission from recombination of localized holes with free electrons. Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy on InP quantum dots reveals multiple emissive states and increased electron phonon coupling associated with hole localization. These localized hole states near the valence band edge are hypothesized to arise from incomplete surface passivation and structural disorder associated with lattice defects. We confirm the presence and effect of lattice disorder by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and Raman scattering measurements. Participation of localized electronic states that are associated with various classes of lattice defects gives rise to phonon-coupled defect related emission. These findings explain the origins of the persistently broad emission spectra of colloidal InP quantum dots and suggest future strategies to narrow ensemble emission lines comparable to what is observed for cadmium-based materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effect of surface passivation by SiN/SiO{sub 2} of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors on Si substrate by deep level transient spectroscopy method

Device performance and defects in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors have been correlated. The effect of SiN/SiO{sub 2} passivation of the surface of AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors on Si substrates is reported on DC characteristics. Deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements were performed on the device after the passivation by a (50/100 nm) SiN/SiO{sub 2} film. The DLTS spectra from these measurements showed the existence of the same electron trap on the surface of the device.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Surface defect states in MBE-grown CdTe layers

Semiconductor surface plays an important role in the technology of semiconductor devices. In the present work we report results of our deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) investigations of surface defect states in nitrogen doped p-type CdTe layers grown by the molecular-beam epitaxy technique. We observed a deep-level trap associated with surface states, with the activation energy for hole emission of 0.33 eV. DLTS peak position in the spectra for this trap, and its ionization energy, strongly depend on the electric field. Our measurements allow to determine a mechanism responsible for the enhancement of hole emission rate from the traps as the phonon-assisted tunnel effect. Density of surface defect states significantly decreased as a result of passivation in ammonium sulfide. Capacitance-voltage measurements confirmed the results obtained by the DLTS technique.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Diffusion barriers

The choice of the metallic film for the contact to a semiconductor device is discussed. One way to try to stabilize a contact is by interposing a thin film of a material that has low diffusivity for the atoms in question. This thin film application is known as a diffusion barrier. Three types of barriers can be distinguished. The stuffed barrier derives its low atomic diffusivity to impurities that concentrate along the extended defects of a polycrystalline layer. Sacrificial barriers exploit the fact that some (elemental) thin films react in a laterally uniform and reproducible fashion. Sacrificial barriers have the advantage that the point of their failure is predictable. Passive barriers are those most closely approximating an ideal barrier. The most-studied case is that of sputtered TiN films. Stuffed barriers may be viewed as passive barriers whose low diffusivity material extends along the defects of the polycrystalline host.

Nicolet, M. A.↗

Photo-stability and time-resolved photoluminescence study of colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots passivated in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} using atomic layer deposition

We report photo-stability enhancement of colloidal CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) passivated in Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} thin film using the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. 62% of the original peak photoluminescence (PL) intensity remained after ALD. The photo-oxidation and photo-induced fluorescence enhancement effects of both the unpassivated and passivated QDs were studied under various conditions, including different excitation sources, power densities, and environment. The unpassivated QDs showed rapid PL degradation under high excitation due to strong photo-oxidation in air while the PL intensity of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} passivated QDs was found to remain stable. Furthermore, recombination dynamics of the unpassivated and passivated QDs were investigated by time-resolved measurements. The average lifetime of the unpassivated QDs decreases with laser irradiation time due to photo-oxidation. Photo-oxidation creates surface defects which reduces the QD emission intensity and enhances the non-radiative recombination rate. From the comparison of PL decay profiles of the unpassivated and passivated QDs, photo-oxidation-induced surface defects unexpectedly also reduce the radiative recombination rate. The ALD passivation of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} protects QDs from photo-oxidation and therefore avoids the reduction of radiative recombination rate. Our experimental results demonstrated that passivation of colloidal QDs by ALD is a promising method to well encapsulate QDs to prevent gas permeation and to enhance photo-stability, including the PL intensity and carrier lifetime in air. This is essential for the applications of colloidal QDs in light-emitting devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Low cost back contact heterojunction solar cells on thin c-Si wafers. Integrating laser and thin film processing for improved manufacturability

An interdigitated back contact (IBC) Si wafer solar cell with deposited a-Si heterojunction (HJ) emitter and contacts is considered the ultimate single junction Si solar cell design. This was confirmed in 2014 by both Panasonic and Sharp Solar producing IBC-HJ cells breaking the previous record Si solar cell efficiency of 25%. But manufacturability at low cost is a concern for the complex IBC-HJ device structure. In this research program, our goals were to addressed the broad industry need for a high-efficiency c-Si cell that overcomes the dominant module cost barriers by 1) developing thin Si wafers synthesized by innovative, kerfless techniques; 2) integrating laser-based processing into most aspects of solar cell fabrication, ensuring high speed and low thermal budgets ; 3) developing an all back contact cell structure compatible with thin wafers using a simplified, low-temperature fabrication process; and 4) designing the contact patterning to enable simplified module assembly. There were a number of significant achievements from this 3 year program. Regarding the front surface, we developed and applied new method to characterize critical interface recombination parameters including interface defect density Dit and hole and electron capture cross-section for use as input for 2D simulation of the IBC cell to guide design and loss analysis. We optimized the antireflection and passivation properties of the front surface texture and a-Si/a-SiN/a-SiC stack depositions to obtain a very low (< 6 mA/cm2) front surface optical losses (reflection and absorption) while maintaining excellent surface passivation (SRV<5 cm/s). We worked with kerfless wafer manufacturers to apply defect-engineering techniques to improve bulk minority-carrier lifetime of thin kerfless wafers by both reducing initial impurities during growth and developing post-growth gettering techniques. This led insights about the kinetics of nickel, chromium, and dislocations in PV-grade silicon and to achieving millisecond lifetimes in kerfless silicon materials. Laser fired contacts to n-Si were developed for the first time using a Al/Sb/Ti metal stack giving contact resistances < 5 mOhm-cm2 when fired through several different dielectric layers. A new 2 step laser+chemical etch isolation technique was developed using a sacrificial top coating which avoids laser damage to Si passivation. Regarding the heterojunction emitter, analysis of front FHJ (1D) and IBC (2D) cells with range of p-layer conditions found that a 2-stage high/low doped p-layer was optimum: the low doped region has lower defects giving higher Voc and the high doped region gave a better contact to the metal. A significant effort was spent studying the patterning process and its contribution to degradation of passivation and reproducibility. Several promising new cleaning, contact and deposition patterning and processing approaches were implemented leading to fabrication of several runs with cells having 19-20% efficiency which were stable over several months. This program resulted in the training and support of 12 graduate students, publication of 21 journal papers and 14 conference papers.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Understanding the Effect of Na in Improving the Performance of CuInSe 2 Based Photovoltaics

Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) thin film photovoltaic technology is in the early stages of commercialization with an annual manufacturing capacity over 1 GW and has demonstrated the highest module efficiency of any of the thin film technologies. However there still is a lack of fundamental understanding of the relationship between the material properties and solar cell device operation. It is well known that the incorporation of a small amount of Na into the CIGS film during processing is essential for high efficiency devices. However, there are conflicting explanations for how Na behaves at the atomic scale. This report investigates how Na is incorporated into the CIGS device structure and evaluates the diffusion of Na into CIGS grain boundaries (GBs) and bulk crystallites. Participants: This project was carried out at the Institute of Energy Conversion at the University of Delaware, collaborating with the Rockett group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne. Significant Findings: The significant outcomes of this project for each task include; Task 1.0: Effect of Na in Devices Fabricated on PVD Deposited CIGS; Na diffusion occurs through the Mo back contact via GBs driven by the presence of oxygen; Na reversibly compensates donor defects in CIGS GBs,Task 2.0: Na Incorporation in Single Crystal CIGS; and bulk Na diffusion proceeds rapidly such that grains are Na-saturated immediately following CIGS thin film manufacture. Industry Guidance: The presented results offer interesting concepts for modification of manufacturing processes of CIGS-based PV modules. Possible approaches to improve control of Na uptake and uniformly increase levels in CIGS films are highlighted for processes that employ either soda-lime glass or NaF as the Na source. Concepts include the potential of O 2 or oxidative based treatments of Mo back contacts to improve Na diffusion through the metal film and increase Na uptake into the growing CIGS. This project has also offered fundamental understanding of the behavior of Na in CIGS grains and GBs, particularly the confirmation that CIGS grains will be saturated with Na immediately following manufacture Summary of Results: Most commercially available CIGS modules are fabricated on soda-lime glass coated with Mo as the back electric contact, and Na in the glass diffuses through the Mo layer into the CIGS during film growth. In Task 1 the transport of Na through Mo was evaluated using x-ray photoelectron surface spectroscopy along with diffusion modeling to obtain diffusion coefficients at several temperatures. It was determined that Na diffusion in Mo only occurs along GBs and that oxygen provides an additional driving force to enhance Na transport. Device data revealed that older Mo substrates with a greater amount of surface oxide resulted in slightly higher efficiencies due to enhanced Na incorporation caused by the oxide. This finding shows that Mo substrates could potentially undergo an oxidation treatment prior to CIGS deposition to further improve and control the incorporation of Na. To determine if in-grain Na affects device performance, in Task 1 Na was selectively removed from GBs using heat/rinse cycles. Due to the low temperature of this treatment, Na at GBS remained mobile while diffusion within the bulk was too slow for Na removal from the grain interiors. Changes in electrical properties were evaluated using conductivity and Seebeck coefficient measurements, with both decreasing as Na was removed to reach values similar to Na-free controls samples. This can be explained by the compensation of donor defects by Na, causing an increase in the free carrier concentration. Devices showed a decrease in open-circuit voltage after Na removal confirming that the beneficial effects of GB Na. The findings of this project will provide guidance for rational optimization of Na incorporation procedures in the manufacturing of CIGS solar cells. While it is known that Na segregates at CIGS GBs, the nature and role of Na diffusion into grain interiors was less clear. In Task 2, single crystal CuInSe 2 was used as a model system to represent the grain interiors of CIGS. Crystals processed by two different methods of different compositions and dislocation densities, were evaluated. Diffusion coefficients were obtained at two temperatures after Na diffusion, giving near identical values, ~2x10 11 cm 2 /s and ~6x10 11 cm2/s at 420°C and 480°C, respectively, for each crystal. Characterization confirmed that dislocation densities were too low to significantly impact the effective diffusion coefficient. The Cu-poor crystal had a higher solubility suggesting that Na diffusion is mediated by Cu-vacancies, but was not accompanied by an expected increase in diffusion coefficient. The activation energy for diffusion was similar to values expected for interstitial diffusion, but the large size of Na + ions should result in a solubility that is much lower than what was experimentally measured. A hybrid interstitial-substitutional mechanism is proposed that combines the fast diffusion of interstitial atoms with the high solubility common for substitutional impurities. Lattice diffusion of Na proceeds fast enough that CIGS grain interiors will have Na concentrations near the solubility limit of 1018 cm -3 when manufactured under standard conditions. Na and K treated epitaxial CIS films showed a significant increase in cathodoluminescence emission intensity, indicating a reduction of non-radiative recombination pathways, which is consistent with improvements in CIGS device performance, though the mechanism is not clear. Pathways forward: Despite the success of this project, there are a number of questions remaining related to further the understanding of the chemistry of Na in CIGS films and devices. These include further elucidation of the mechanisms of Na passivation in CIGS GBs, with identification of which defects are involved and confirmation of the possible effects of in-grain Na on device performance. To complete analysis of the cell structure, conformation of the presence and possible chemistries of Na at the CIGS/CdS junction and/or in the front transparent contacts, and its effects on device performance, is needed.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Atomic motifs govern the decoration of grain boundaries by interstitial solutes

Abstract Grain boundaries, the two-dimensional defects between differently oriented crystals, tend to preferentially attract solutes for segregation. Solute segregation has a significant effect on the mechanical and transport properties of materials. At the atomic level, however, the interplay of structure and composition of grain boundaries remains elusive, especially with respect to light interstitial solutes like B and C. Here, we use Fe alloyed with B and C to exploit the strong interdependence of interface structure and chemistry via charge-density imaging and atom probe tomography methods. Direct imaging and quantifying of light interstitial solutes at grain boundaries provide insight into decoration tendencies governed by atomic motifs. We find that even a change in the inclination of the grain boundary plane with identical misorientation impacts grain boundary composition and atomic arrangement. Thus, it is the smallest structural hierarchical level, the atomic motifs, that controls the most important chemical properties of the grain boundaries. This insight not only closes a missing link between the structure and chemical composition of such defects but also enables the targeted design and passivation of the chemical state of grain boundaries to free them from their role as entry gates for corrosion, hydrogen embrittlement, or mechanical failure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Deep learning with mixup augmentation for improved pore detection during additive manufacturing

In additive manufacturing (AM), process defects such as keyhole pores are difficult to anticipate, affecting the quality and integrity of the AM-produced materials. Hence, considerable efforts have aimed to predict these process defects by training machine learning (ML) models using passive measurements such as acoustic emissions. This work considered a dataset in which keyhole pores of a laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) experiment were identified using X-ray radiography and then registered both in space and time to acoustic measurements recorded during the LPBF experiment. Due to AM’s intrinsic process controls, where a pore-forming event is relatively rare, the acoustic datasets collected during monitoring include more non-pores than pores. In other words, the dataset for ML model development is imbalanced. Moreover, this imbalanced and sparse data phenomenon remains ubiquitous across many AM monitoring schemes since training data is nontrivial to collect. Hence, we propose a machine learning approach to improve this dataset imbalance and enhance the prediction accuracy of pore-labeled data. Specifically, we investigate how data augmentation helps predict pores and non-pores better. This imbalance is improved using recent advances in data augmentation called Mixup, a weak-supervised learning method. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are trained on original and augmented datasets, and an appreciable increase in performance is reported when testing on five different experimental trials. When ML models are trained on original and augmented datasets, they achieve an accuracy of 95% and 99% on test datasets, respectively. We also provide information on how dataset size affects model performance. Lastly, we investigate the optimal Mixup parameters for augmentation in the context of CNN performance.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Deep learning with mixup augmentation for improved pore detection during additive manufacturing

In additive manufacturing (AM), process defects such as keyhole pores are difficult to anticipate, affecting the quality and integrity of the AM-produced materials. Hence, considerable efforts have aimed to predict these process defects by training machine learning (ML) models using passive measurements such as acoustic emissions. This work considered a dataset in which keyhole pores of a laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) experiment were identified using X-ray radiography and then registered both in space and time to acoustic measurements recorded during the LPBF experiment. Due to AM’s intrinsic process controls, where a pore-forming event is relatively rare, the acoustic datasets collected during monitoring include more non-pores than pores. In other words, the dataset for ML model development is imbalanced. Moreover, this imbalanced and sparse data phenomenon remains ubiquitous across many AM monitoring schemes since training data is nontrivial to collect. Hence, we propose a machine learning approach to improve this dataset imbalance and enhance the prediction accuracy of pore-labeled data. Specifically, we investigate how data augmentation helps predict pores and non-pores better. This imbalance is improved using recent advances in data augmentation called Mixup, a weak-supervised learning method. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are trained on original and augmented datasets, and an appreciable increase in performance is reported when testing on five different experimental trials. When ML models are trained on original and augmented datasets, they achieve an accuracy of 95% and 99% on test datasets, respectively. We also provide information on how dataset size affects model performance. Lastly, we investigate the optimal Mixup parameters for augmentation in the context of CNN performance.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Elucidating the Role of Hydrogen at c‐In 2 O 3 /a‐In 2 O 3− x Interface

Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and hybrid functional electronic structure calculations are employed to determine the formation, the structural and electronic properties, and the dynamics of covalent (In—OH) and ionic (In—H—In) hydrogen defects at crystalline-In 2 O 3 /amorphous-In 2 O 3−x interface. This comprehensive computational study considers (i) various interstitial and substitutional hydrogen site locations within the crystalline, amorphous, and interfacial regions; (ii) several oxygen-to-hydrogen ratios; and (iii) possible defect charged states. The results reveal hydrogen's inability to fully passivate the undercoordinated under-shared in atoms in amorphous highly substoichiometric oxide, giving rise to the formation of deep electron traps even in net-charge neutral structures. These trap defects are found to be sensitive to photoexcitation, in contrast to In—OH with H's electronic states located below the valence band and to In—H—In, where H is found to maintain its charge state upon illumination. Nevertheless, H plays a critical role in photoinduced conductivity and its relaxation by promoting In—O coordination transformations at the interfacial region, including deterioration of the crystalline layer. Finally, the results help identify mobile H species and metastable H defect complexes (such as In—H—H—In, In—OH–H—In, and In—OH–O—In) that are responsible for long relaxation times of the conductivity decay.

H defects↗

Degradation Mechanisms in TOPCon/POLO Solar Cells

This presentation shows how Poly-Si/SiO2 contacts show a post firing degradation/regeneration cycle. The following conclusions were made: 1) cycle changes surface passivation (Jo), but not the bulk lifetime; 2) cycle time depends on anneal temperature in light or dark (higher T, faster cycle); 3) 400 degrees Celsius anneal eliminates the cycle - only generation occurs; 4) cycle time and magnitude is not correlated with Tfire; 5) contact passivation is stable after cycling; 6) fundamental nature of defect(s) responsible is not known; 7) TOPCon cells/modules, if constructed well, seem to show minimal degradation issues (PVEL, Jolywood, Jinko, ET Solar), and 8) NREL/ASU are studying TOPCon cells and UC Davis has a molecular dynamics model for TOPCon.

degradation↗

Degradation Mode Identification by Photocarrier Lifetime Spectroscopy on Devices and Test Structures

In this presentation, I examine the basic concepts of the device physics that can be used to distinguish various degradation and recovery modes on a cell level. The known degradation modes (bulk LeTID and LID, UVID, etc.) are due to defects and impurities that cause the photocarrier recombination according to Shockley-Reed-Hall (SRH) statistics. The SRH recombination rate strongly depends on the balance of electron and hole capture rates into the defects, which in turn, are governed by their local concentrations. The strongest recombination takes place at approximately equal concentrations of electrons and holes, while at low injection conditions (when one type of carrier dominates) the SRH recombination is suppressed. For cell degradation modes that affect the passivated interface (UVID, H-induced TOPCon contact degradation) the defects are at the interface under low-injection conditions due to either high local doping or the adjacent built-in charge in the dielectric. This mode is characterized by changes in the "diode prefactor" J01 slope in the inverse lifetime-injection level curve. In contrast, bulk degradation (LeTID, LID) affects bulk lifetime, with J01 slope unchanged. Carrier lifetime - injection level plots therefore serve as clear indicators of different degradation modes and are shown by experimental examples.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Effect of the Electric Mode and γ Irradiation on Surface-Defect Formation at the Si–SiO{sub 2} Interface in a MOS Transistor

The results of experimental investigation into surface-defect formation under the effect of gamma-radiation with a dose rate P = 0.1 rad(Si)/s on MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) transistors with the n-type channel in the passive and active modes are presented. Two stages of surface-defect formation are observed. A qualitative model is proposed to explain the effect of the the drain transistor voltage on the defect formation process.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗