ELECTRONIC CHARACTERISATION AND MODELLING OF DISORDERED SEMICONDUCTORS

摘要

The viability of a semiconductor material for photovoltaic and related applications is critically dependent upon the mobilities and lifetimes of its charge carriers. The situation is complicated by the fact that many of the materials of interest are employed in forms (amorphous, nanocrystalline and polycrystalline films, etc.) which feature significant degrees of disorder. This can exert a great influence on the electronic properties, and can also make the interpretation of experimental data appreciably more complex and challenging. This paper commences with a brief review of the conventional concepts of electronic transport in the solid state. It then describes the manner in which these concepts must be changed to incorporate the effects of disorder, how the carrier mobilities and lifetimes are influenced, and how some of the techniques used to determine these properties are affected. Finally, it is shown that computer-based modelling constitutes an extremely powerful tool in both predicting and understanding the experimental behaviour.