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semiconductors
Dr. Katarzyna Skorupska
band structure of crystalline solids by solution of Schroedinger equation (one e- approximation)
Brillouin zone – depends on crystal structure and corresponds to unit cell of the reciprocal lattice
• Energy conservation
• Momentum conservation
Dispersion relation for quasi free electrons and photons for one dimensional case
Direct band gap – ECB minimum and EVB maximum at the same k value
Indirect band gap – ECB minimum and EVB maximum at the different k value
direct vs. indirect semiconductor
Energy conservation
Momentum conservation
Indirect - phonon assisted with small probability and weak resulting absorption
(phonon absorption)
(phonon emission)
ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT A AS FUNCTION OF THE ENERGY OF THE IMPINGING LIGHT
E – photon energy
h – Planck’s constant (4.135667516(91)×10−15 eV s)
Photon energy
c – speed of light (299.79 m s-1)
λ - wavelenght
The absorption coefficient α, is a property of a material which defines the amount of light
absorbed by it.
The inverse of the absorption coefficient, α–1, is the average distance traveled by a photon
before it gets absorbed.
direct semiconductors
- square root dependence on photon energy
indirect semiconductors
- quadratic dependence on the photon energy
Optical properties
Relation of absorption coefficient (α) and light intensity (I)
(Lambert-Baer´s Law)
α- absorption coefficient
I0- intensity of incoming light
x- distance to the surface
Exponential decay of intensity profile of absorbed light
Penetration depth and absorption coefficient
The wavelength-dependent value of “α” determines how far the light enters the semiconductor.
the light intensity vs. distance for a few typical examples of absorption behavior.
Penetration depth (x) – the inverse of the absorption coefficient (α-1) – average distance at
which traveled by a photon before it gets absorbed
low α carrier generation
through the material
For high absorptivity, most of the light is absorbed close to the semiconductor surface.
Indirect semiconductors
• need more material to absorb most of the sunlight; (Si, Ge, GaP)
• thicker layers are needed;
• higher material costs and increased demands on purity increase prize
The plot of the absorption coefficient for a series of semiconductors allows identification of thin
film solar cell absorber material:
weak absorption of crystalline Si (x-Si) in the IR to visible range prohibits the use in thin film
solar cells.
III-V compound sc, the steep increase of the absorption coefficient with the photon energy,
reaching values of α > 104 cm-1 within about 0.2eV beyond the fundamental absorption edge,
makes these materials candidates for thin film applications.
ternary chalcopyrites CuInS2 and its selenide -even steeper increase of α.
amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) has a considerably increased absorption compared to
x-Si and an optical gap shifted by about 0.6eV compared to the crystalline material which allows
application in thin film devices with in principle higher photovoltages.
Absorption coefficient vs absorption length for hν ~ Eg + 0.2eV
Whereas the excess majority carrier profile changes little (the change has been magnified in the
figure), the excess minority carrier concentration p* deviates strongly from the constant dark
concentration (p).
Quasi Fermi levels, definitions
For stationary illumination and sufficiently long carrier life time, excess minority and majority
carriers exist stationary at the respective band edges. Their excess carrier concentration relation
defines a new quasi equilibrium and attempts have been made to describe this situation in
analogy to the dark equilibrium terminology. Therefore one describes the Fermi level for an
illuminated semiconductor in the framework of the equations derived for the non illuminated
semiconductor. For n-type and p-type semiconductors, EF was given by
N CB N VB
n E F * ( x) = ECB − kT ln p E F * ( x) = EVB + kT ln
n* p*
because
we can write:
knowing:
We can write:
p*
NVB
E F = EVB + kT ln
p
N
EVB = E F − kT ln VB
p
NVB N
p E F ( x ) = E F − kT ln + kT ln VB
*
p p*
NVB N
p E F ( x ) = E F − kT (ln + ln VB
*
)
p p*
NVB
p
p E F ( x ) = E F − kT ln
*
NVB
p*
p*
p E F ( x ) = E F − kT ln
*
p
p * = p + ∆p
p + ∆p
p E F ( x ) = E F − kT ln
*
p
p ∆p Quasi Fermi level for h+ is energetically located
n E F ( x ) = E F − kT ln +
*