Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Photocurrent”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Effects of unique band structure of h -BN probed by photocurrent excitation spectroscopy

Here, by employing a photocurrent excitation spectroscopy measurement, a direct bandgap of ~6.46 eV has been resolved for the first time in thick B-10 enriched h-BN films. Together with previous band calculations, an unconventional energy diagram has been constructed to capture the unique features of h-BN: h-BN has a minimum direct bandgap of ~6.5 eV and a bandgap of ~6.1 eV which is indirect with the conduction band minimum (CBM) at M-point and valence band maximum (VBM) at K-point in the Brillouin zone, and the energy levels of the donor and acceptor impurities are measured relative to CBM and VBM, respectively.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1995

A theoretical analysis of steady-state photocurrents in simple silicon diodes

A theoretical analysis solves for the steady-state photocurrents produced by a given photo-generation rate function with negligible recombination in simple silicon diodes, consisting of a uniformly doped quasi-neutral region (called 'substrate' below) adjacent to a p-n junction depletion region (DR). Special attention is given to conditions that produce 'funneling' (a term used by the single-eventeffects community) under steady-state conditions. Funneling occurs when carriers are generated so fast that the DR becomes flooded and partially or completely collapses. Some or nearly all of the applied voltage, plus built-in potential normally across the DR, is now across the substrate. This substrate voltage drop affects substrate currents. The steady-state problem can provide some qualitative insights into the more difficult transient problem. First, it was found that funneling can be induced from a distance, i.e., from carriers generated at locations outside of the DR. Secondly, it was found that the substrate can divide into two subregions, with one controlling substrate resistance and the other characterized by ambipolar diffusion. Finally, funneling was found to be more difficult to induce in the p(sup +)/n diode than in the n(sup +)/p diode. The carrier density exceeding the doping density in the substrate and at the DR boundary is not a sufficient condition to collapse a DR.

Edmonds, L.↗
NASA NTRS1995

A theoretical analysis of steady-state photocurrents in simple silicon diodes.

A theoretical analysis solves for the steady-state photocurrents produced by a given photogeneration rate function with negligible recombination in simple silicon diodes, consisting of a uniformly doped quasi-neutral region (called "substrate" below) between a p-n junction depletion region (DR) and an ohmic contact (electrode). Special attention is given to conditions that produce "funneling" (a term used by the single-event-effects community) under steady-state conditions. Funneling occurs when carriers are generated so fast that the DR becomes flooded and partially or completely collapses. Some or nearly all of the applied voltage plus built-in potential normally across the DR is now across the substrate. This substrate voltage drop affects substrate currents. The steady-state problem can provide some qualitative insights into the more difficult transient problem. Chapter 6 discusses some similarities between the steady-state and transient problems...

Edmonds, Larry↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electrical edge effect induced photocurrent overestimation in low-light organic photovoltaics

In many literatures, the short-circuit current (J SC ) of indoor organic photovoltaics is overestimated, leading to severely wrong device performance evaluation and analysis. In this work, based on the equivalent circuit model, we demonstrate that electrical edge effect is sensitive to both transverse surface resistance and light intensity. At low light intensity, the electrical edge effect could lead to J SC being significantly overestimated, i.e., by 100% and even more. We show that for a PM6:Y6 device capped with a MoOX layer, when measured under 0.01 sun, the usually overlooked interface doping mechanism would lead to J SC and PCE overestimation by 51% and 15%, respectively. Besides, we show that the magnitude of J SC overestimation drastically increases with high photoactive-layer surface roughness. This work emphasized the significant electrical edge effect on J SC evaluations for low-light solar cells and is conducive to understanding the intrinsic mechanism of edge effect, promoting a healthier development of organic photovoltaics.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Photocurrent Generation by Photosynthetic Purple Bacterial Reaction Centers Interfaced with a Porous Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide (ATO) Electrode

The ability to exchange energy and information between biological and electronic materials is critical in the development of hybrid electronic systems in biomedicine, environmental sensing, and energy applications. While sensor technology has been extensively developed to collect detailed molecular information, less work has been done on systems that can specifically modulate the chemistry of the environment with temporal and spatial control. The bacterial photosynthetic reaction center represents an ideal photonic component of such a system in that it is capable of modifying local chemistry via light-driven redox reactions with quantitative control over reaction rates and has inherent spectroscopic probes for monitoring function. Here we present a well-characterized model system, consisting of a transparent, porous electrode (antimony-doped tin oxide) which is electrochemically coupled to the reaction center via a cytochrome c molecule. Upon illumination, the reaction center performs the 2-step, 2-electron reduction of a ubiquinone derivative which exchanges with oxidized quinone in solution. Electrons from the electrode then move through the cytochrome to reoxidize the reaction center electron donor. The result is a facile platform for performing redox chemistry that can be optically and electronically controlled in time and space.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Doped, porous iron oxide films and their optical functions and anodic photocurrents for solar water splitting

The fabrication and morphological, optical, and photoelectrochemical characterization of doped iron oxide films is presented. The complex index of refraction and absorption coefficient of polycrystalline films are determined through measurement and modeling of spectral transmission and reflection data using appropriate dispersion relations. Photoelectrochemical characterization for water photo-oxidation reveals that the conversion efficiencies of electrodes are strongly influenced by substrate temperature during their oblique-angle physical vapor deposition. These results are discussed in terms of the films' morphological features and the known optoelectronic limitations of iron oxide films for application in solar water splitting devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Valley and electric photocurrents in 2D silicon and graphene

We show that the optical excitation of multi-valley systems leads to valley currents which depend on the light polarization. The net electric current, determined by the vector sum of single-valley contributions, vanishes for some peculiar distributions of carriers in the valley and momentum spaces forming a pure valley current. We report on the study of this phenomenon, both experimental and theoretical, for graphene and 2D electron channels on the silicon surface.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Improvement in the photocurrent collection due to enhanced absorption of light by synthesizing staggered layers of silver nanoclusters in silicon

The quest for increased efficiency of solar cells has driven the research in synthesizing photovoltaic cells involving Si based materials. The efficiency of solar cells involving crystalline Si is stalled around 25% for the last decade. Recently Shi et al. had shown that light trapping can be enhanced by fabricating double layers of Ag nanoparticles in silicon based materials. The light trapping is critically important in a photo devices such as solar cells in order to increase light absorption and efficiency. In the present work, we report enhancement in the absorption of light in Ag ion implanted Si substrates. Multiple low energies Ag ions, ranging from ∼80 keV to ∼30 keV, with different fluences ranging from ∼1 × 10{sup 16} to ∼1 × 10{sup 17} atoms/cm{sup 2} were sequentially implanted into commercially available Si (100) substrates followed by post-thermal annealing to create different sizes of Ag nanoclusters (NC) at different depths in the top 100 nm of the Si. The absorbance of light is increased in Ag implanted Si with a significant increase in the current collection in I-V (current-voltage) photo switching measurements. The experimental photovoltaic cells fabricated with the Ag-implanted Si samples were optically characterized under AM (air mass) 1.5 solar radiation conditions (∼1.0 kW/m{sup 2}). An enhancement in the charge collection were measured in the annealed samples, where prominent Ag NCs were formed in the Si matrix compared to the as-implanted samples with amorphous layers. We believe the enhancement of the photo-current density from the samples with Ag NC is due to the improvement of efficiency of charge collection of e{sup −}-h{sup +} pairs produced by the incident light.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

3D‐Mapping and Manipulation of Photocurrent in an Optoelectronic Diamond Device

Abstract Establishing connections between material impurities and charge transport properties in emerging electronic and quantum materials, such as wide‐bandgap semiconductors, demands new diagnostic methods tailored to these unique systems. Many such materials host optically‐active defect centers which offer a powerful in situ characterization system, but one that typically relies on the weak spin‐electric field coupling to measure electronic phenomena. In this work, charge‐state sensitive optical microscopy is combined with photoelectric detection of an array of nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) centers to directly image the flow of charge carriers inside a diamond optoelectronic device, in 3D and with temporal resolution. Optical control is used to change the charge state of background impurities inside the diamond on‐demand, resulting in drastically different current flow such as filamentary channels nucleating from specific, defective regions of the device. Conducting channels that control carrier flow, key steps toward optically reconfigurable, wide‐bandgap optoelectronics are then engineered using light. This work might be extended to probe other wide‐bandgap semiconductors (SiC, GaN) relevant to present and emerging electronic and quantum technologies.

Wood, Alexander A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Photocurrent in carbon nanotube bundle: Graded Seebeck coefficient phenomenon

Here, polarized photovoltage of a suspended aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) bundle under uniform optical irradiation is discovered without additional structural modification or bias voltage. Such a phenomenon is very surprising considering the metallic behavior of the overall bundle and zero temperature difference between ends. The photovoltage characteristic time is found similar to the thermal response time under step Joule heating and implies a relation to the thermal behavior of the CNT bundle. A similar thermoelectric voltage is also observed during step Joule heating. Localized laser heating and scanning along the axial direction of the bundle uncovers a linear spatial variation of the local Seebeck coefficient. The Seebeck coefficient linearly decreases from root to tip of the CNT bundle with a rate of a few - µV∙K –1 ·mm –1 . Deep investigation in both the microscopic and macroscopic structures of the CNT bundle reveals that the local alignment of CNT assemblies rather than the minor defects in individual CNTs brings about this linear distribution of Seebeck coefficient in space. The finding presents a new way for direct photon-to-electric energy conversion via Seebeck coefficient grading in CNT structures.

42 ENGINEERING↗