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Probing surface recombination velocities in semiconductors using two-photon microscopy

Published

Author(s)

Paul M. Haney, Benoit H. Gaury

Abstract

The determination of minority-carrier lifetimes and surface recombination velocities is essential for the development of semiconductor technologies such as solar cells. The recent development of the two-photon time-resolved microscopy technique allows for better measurements of bulk and subsurface interfaces properties. Here we propose an analysis of the diffusion problem related to this optical technique. Our three-dimensional treatment enables us to separate lifetime (recombination) from transport effects (diffusion) in the photoluminescence intensity. It also allows us to consider surface recombination boundary conditions with a variety of geometries: a single plane (representing an isolated exposed or buried interface), two parallel planes (representing two inequivalent interfaces), and a spherical surface (representing the enclosing surface of a grain boundary). We provide fully analytical results and scalings directly amenable to data fitting, and apply those to experimental data collected on heteroepitaxial CdTe/ZnTe/Si.
Citation
Journal of Applied Physics
Volume
119
Issue
12

Citation

Haney, P. and Gaury, B. (2016), Probing surface recombination velocities in semiconductors using two-photon microscopy, Journal of Applied Physics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4944597 (Accessed March 29, 2024)
Created March 28, 2016, Updated November 10, 2018