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In der Promotionsarbeit wurde ein Züchtungsverfahren zur Herstellung strukturell hochqualitativer AlN-Volumenkristalle mittels PVT-Methode entwickelt. Wesentliche Grundvoraussetzungen dafür sind ein thermisch und chemisch stabiles Tiegelmaterial, ein AlN-Quellmaterial mit Sauerstoffverunreinigungen <300 ppm und AlN-Keime mit hoher kristalliner Perfektion. Unter den getesteten potenziellen Tiegelmaterialien (BN, TaC, TaN, NbC, NbN, TaB2, W) zeigten sich TaC und mit Abstrichen W unter AlN-Züchtungsbedingungen ausreichend stabil und wurden für die Wachstumsversuche verwendet. Zur effektiven Reduzierung der Sauerstoffverunreinigungen im AlN-Quellmaterial wurde ein karbothermischer Reduktionsprozess entwickelt, welcher eine Restsauerstoffkonzentration im Quellmaterial von <300 ppm gewährleistet. AlN-Keime für die Homoepitaxie von AlN-Volumenkristallen wurden durch heteroepitaktisches Wachstum auf SiC-Substraten und über spontane Nukleation freistehender AlN-Kristalle hergestellt. Beim heteroepitaktischen Wachstum auf SiC zeigte sich eine starke Abhängigkeit von der Substratpolarität. Wachstum auf C-polarem SiC ist mit geringeren Ätzgrubendichten von 5*10^4 - 10^6 cm^(-2) gegenüber Si-polarem Wachstum mit Ätzgrubensdichten von 5*10^6 - 10^7 cm^(-2) gekennzeichnet. Für beide Substratpolaritäten wurden Modelle des Anwachsstadiums entwickelt. AlN-Kristalle mit bis zu 35 mm im Durchmesser wurden gezüchtet. Die hohe Rissneigung aufgrund von Abkühlspannungen und Si-Konzentrationen von mehreren Prozent im gewachsenen AlN-Kristall vermindern aber die Kristallqualität erheblich. Eine sehr hohe kristalline Perfektion kann hingegen durch spontane Nukleation freistehender AlN-Kristalle auf einer Zwischenebene in der Tiegelmitte gewährleistet werden. Bei Nukleationstemperaturen von 2200 °C wurden isometrische Kristalle mit 12*12*14 mm^3 gezüchtet. Die Kristalle weisen eine zonare Struktur auf, welche durch einen in [000-1]-Richtung gewachsenen Kernbereich mit Versetzungsdichten <10^2 cm^(-2) und einem senkrecht um den Kernbereich gewachsenen Randbereich mit Versetzungsdichten von 10^2 - 10^4 cm^(-2) gekennzeichnet ist. Strukturell hochqualitative (000-1)-Keime wurden aus spontan nukleierten isometrisch gewachsenen AlN-Kristallen präpariert und für die homoepitaktische Volumenkristallzüchtung verwendet. Unter Zuhilfenahme numerischer Temperaturfeldsimulationen wurde ein angepasster Keimhalter entwickelt, welcher ein leicht konvexes Temperaturfeld am Keim gewährleistet und Parasitärwachstum unterdrückt. Somit konnten AlN-Volumenkristalle homoepitaktisch gezüchtet werden, welche eine Durchmesservergrößerung unter Beibehaltung der hohen strukturellen Qualität der Keimkristalle zeigen. Dieses Verfahren bietet die Grundlage, durch die Züchtung mehrerer Kristallgenerationen eine Durchmesseraufweitung auf industriell relevante Größen von 1-2" zu erreichen.
In this work, the electrical and luminescence properties of a series of Si based materials used for photovoltaics, microelectronics and nanoelectronics have been investigated by means of electron beam induced current (EBIC), cathodoluminescence (CL), photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL). Photovoltaic Si produced by block casting has been investigated by EBIC on wafers sliced from different parts of the ingot. The impact of selected solar cell processing steps on the material properties has been evaluated by EBIC utilizing adjacent wafers from the ingot. The temperature dependence of dislocations’ EBIC contrast was measured to assess the degree of dislocation contamination with impurities, yielding low dislocation contamination for the middle of the block and high contamination in the top and bottom regions. This is in agreement with the impurity distribution in the block. It was found that phosphorus diffusion gettering (PDG) followed by SiN firing greatly reduces the recombination activity of extended defects at room temperature, and improves the bulk property simultaneously. The improvement is attributed to both PDG of metal impurities and a passivation effect of SiN firing. In order to better understand the factors limiting the properties of thin polycrystalline Si layers prepared by the Aluminum induced layer exchange (Alile) technique, epilayers grown on (111) and (100) monocrystalline Si substrates were used as a model system to investigate the impact of processing temperature (Ts) and type of substrate. It was found that no dislocations are formed for epilayers on (100) Si, while a high density of dislocations was detected on epilayers prepared on (111) Si at 450 °C. The dislocation density decreases with increasing TS. The diffusion lengths extracted from the energy dependent EBIC collection efficiencies reveal an improvement of the epilayer quality with increasing TS during growth from 450 °C to 650 °C, and a decrease of the epilayer quality at 700 °C. This is attributed to a reduction of the dislocation density with increasing TS and a formation of precipitates during the process. Precipitate formation of at 700 °C is limited because the metal impurities are very mobile at high TS, resulting in a homogeneous distribution of the impurities. Because the impurities are effective lifetime killers of the minority carriers, so the diffusion length decreases. PL measurements on epilayers grown on Si substrates revealed no characteristic dislocation-related luminescence (DRL) lines at room temperature and 77 K, while intense characteristic DRL lines D1 - D4 have been detected in the sample prepared by the Alile technique. This indicates that dislocations in the Alile sample are relatively clean. The possible reason for the purification of the Alile samples is Al induced gettering during the polycrystalline Si layer growth. The diffusion length in the thin top layer of Si-on-insulator (SOI) samples has been successfully measured by EBIC employing suppression of the surface recombination at the buried oxide layer and at surface of the top layer by biasing. The measured diffusion length is several times larger than the layer thickness. Dislocation networks produced by Si wafer direct bonding have been investigated with regard to their electrical properties by EBIC. The networks were observed to show charge carrier collection and electrical conduction. Inhomogeneities in the charge collection were detected in n- and p-type samples under appropriate beam energy. The EBIC contrast behavior can be understood under the consideration of the positively charged oxide precipitates along with dislocations charged with majority carriers, where the appearance of the contrast in dark or bright depends strongly on the ratio of the collection and the recombination loss of the carriers.The luminescence properties of Si nanostructures (Si nanowires, Si nano rods, porous Si, and Si/SiO2 multi quantum wells (MQWs)) are another important subject of this work. Sub-bandgap infrared (IR) luminescence around 1570 nm has been found in Si nanowires, nano rods and porous Si. PL measurements with samples immersed in different liquid media, for example, in aqueous HF (50%), concentrated H2SO4 (98%) and H2O2 established that the sub-bandgap IR luminescence originates from the Si/SiOx interface. Its origin was explained in terms of a simple recombination model through radiative interface states. EL in the sub-bandgap IR range has been observed in simple diodes prepared on porous Si and MQWs at room temperature. The results show the possibility to fabricate an efficient light emitter around 1570 nm wavelength based on the radiative recombination at the Si/Si oxide interface. Based on the knowledge about radiative transitions via the interface states, an improved understanding of luminescence in dislocated samples was proposed.
Zur Deckung des stetig steigenden Energiebedarfs und unter Berücksichtigung des Umweltschutzes werden unter anderem Solarzellen genutzt. Defekte in Solarzellen können die Effizienz verringern. In dieser Arbeit wird das Defektverständnis von Silizium basierten Solarzellen erweitert.
Neue experimentelle Erkenntnisse konnten zu folgenden Schwerpunkten gewonnen werden:
• Siliziumnitrid- und Siliziumkarbidausscheidungen in multikristallinem Silizium
• Rekombinationsaktivität in dünnen Siliziumschichten
• Charakterisierung der Rekombinationsaktivität von Germanium als Modellmaterial für die Siliziumkristallisation
• Rekombinationsaktivität und Verspannung an Korngrenzen
Um Ergebnisse experimenteller Defektcharakterisierung auf allgemein gültige Parameter der Rekombination wie z.B. Ladungsträgerdiffusionslänge oder Oberflächenrekombinationsgeschwindigkeit zurückführen zu können, wurden zu folgenden Phänomenen Modelle entwickelt und Simulationen durchgeführt:
• Getterzonen an Korngrenzen
• Ermittlung von Diffusionslänge und Diffusionskoeffizient in Dünnschichtmaterial
• 3D-Raumladungseffekte
Die Nutzung der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse über die Rekombinationseigenschaften der Defekte liegt in einer möglicherweise zukünftigen kontrollierten Defektbeeinflussung und somit einer Effizienzverbesserung von Solarzellen.
The LHC is the largest particle accelerator and storage ring in the world, used to investigate fundamentals of particle physics and to develop at the same time the technology of accelerators and detectors. Four main experiments (ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb) , located around the LHC ring, provide insight into the nature of particles and search for answers to as yet unexplained phenomena in the universe. Two proton or heavy ion beams circulate in the LHC and are brought into collision in the four experiments.
The physics potential of each experiment is determined by the luminosity, which is a ratio of the number of the events during a certain time period to the cross section of a physics process. A measurement of the luminosity is therefore essential to determine the cross section of interesting physics processes.
In addition, safe and high-quality data-taking requires stable beam conditions with almost no beam losses. Each experiment has its own detectors to measure beam losses, hereafter called machine induced background. One such detector is installed in CMS, BCM1F. Based on diamond sensors it was designed and built to measure both, the luminosity and the machine induced background. BCM1F ran smoothly during the first LHC running period from 2009-2012 and delivered valuable beam loss and luminosity information to the control rooms of CMS and LHC. At the end of 2012 the LHC was shut down to improve the performance by increasing the proton energy to 7TeV and decreasing the proton bunch spacing to 25ns. Due to the success of BCM1F an upgrade of its sensors and readout components was planned in order to fulfil the new requirements.
The upgrade of the sensors comprises a two pad instead of one pad metallization. 24 instead of the previous 8 single crystal diamond sensors were foreseen for the new BCM1F to enhance the robustness and redundancy. To instrument BCM1F, 59 sensors were electrically characterized by measuring the leakage current, signal stability and charge collection efficiency. Quality criteria were defined to select sensors for the final installation. An overview of these measurements including a summary of the results is given in this thesis. In addition, an upgraded amplifier was developed within the collaboration in 130nm CMOS technology. It has a peaking time of 7ns instead of the 22ns of the one previously installed. A BCM1F prototype comprising a two pad sensor and the upgraded amplifier was tested at the DESY-II accelerator in a 5GeV electron beam. Results of these test-beam measurements are presented in this thesis as well as simulations to interpret the measurements.
The installation of the upgraded BCM1F was completed in 2014. In 2015 BCM1F was commissioned and started to measure luminosity and machine induced background. At the end, the thesis will describe both types of measurements with the focus on machine induced background demonstrating the functionality of BCM1F.
Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der Struktur und der Entwicklung von Versetzungen in multikristallinen Siliciumblöcken aus der gerichteten Blockkristallisation. Versetzungen können für die Rekombination von Ladungsträgern verantwortlich sein und damit den Wirkungsgrad von Solarzellen und -modulen mindern. Die experimentelle Arbeit gliedert sich bezüglich ihrer Fragenstellung und der Methodenwahl in drei Teile und wird in den Kapiteln 2 bis 4 behandelt.
In Kapitel 2 wird die Defektstruktur vieler Siliciumblöcke mittels automatisierten Verfahren untersucht. Die Analysemethoden umfassen dabei die Auswertung der Wafertextur und der Infrarot-Durchlichtbilder sowie Ätzgrubendichtezählung (EPD) und Photolumineszenz (PL). Der Betrachtungsabstand ist makroskopisch und die Ergebnisse geben das Verhalten von vielen Versetzungen wieder.
Die Versetzungsstruktur in multikristallinem Silicium ist geprägt durch scharf abgegrenzte Bereiche mit sehr hoher Versetzungsdichte. Diese sog. Versetzungscluster bestehen aus einem Netzwerk aus Versetzungs-Pile-ups (Kleinwinkelkorngrenzen) und können in sogenannte leichte und dichte Cluster unterschieden werden. Die Versetzungscluster haben im Siliciumblock einen Ausgangspunkt, von dem aus sie sich ausbreiten. Dieser befindet sich hauptsächlich an Korngrenzen und generiert sich spontan während der Erstarrung in der Nähe der Phasengrenze. Das Auftreten von leichten und dichten Clustern ist abhängig von der Kornorientierung parallel zur Wachstumsrichtung. Körner mit Orientierungen nahe <111>, <211> und <311> neigen dazu leichte Cluster auszubilden, während Körner mit Orientierungen um <110>, <331> und <531> eher dichte Cluster ausbilden. Kornorientierungen um <100> und <511> sind unauffällig bzgl. der Ausbildung von Versetzungsclustern. Der Zusammenhang liegt in der Orientierung der Gleitebenen begründet.
Kapitel 3 behandelt die strukturelle Untersuchung der Versetzungen mit der Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (TEM) sowie der Synchrotron- Röntgentopographie (WB-XRT). Die Versetzungen formen streng geordnete Pile-ups, welche letztendlich Kleinwinkelkorngrenzen entlang der Wachstumsrichtung ausbilden. Der Versetzungsabstand beträgt etwa 30 bis 800 nm, was mit einer Verkippung in der Kristallorientierung von 0,3 bis 0,07 ° korrespondiert. Die Rotation der Kristallorientierung verläuft hauptsächlich um eine Achse parallel zur Wachstumsrichtung. Anhand dieser Beobachtungen wurde ein Modell zur Abschätzung der Versetzungsdichte aufgestellt. Für die leichten Cluster beträgt diese ca. 2*10^5 cm^2 und für die dichten Cluster etwa 3*10^7 cm^2.
Die Auswirkungen der Versetzungsstruktur auf die elektrischen Eigenschaften werden in Kapitel 4 behandelt. Mit Electron Beam Induced Current (EBIC) und Dunkel-Lock-In-Thermographie (DLIT) wurde herausgestellt, dass vor allem solche Versetzungen elektrisch aktiv sind, welche sich zu Kleinwinkelkorngrenzen angeordnet haben. Ein niedriger Versetzungsabstand innerhalb der Subkorngrenzen scheint nur eine Bedingung für eine elektrische Aktivierung zu sein. Ein Zusammenhang zwischen dem Betrag der Verkippung einer Subkorngrenze und dem EBIC-Kontrast konnte nicht hergestellt werden.
In der abschließenden Diskussion (Kap. 5) wird ein Modell zur Entstehung und Evolution von Versetzungsclustern vorgeschlagen. Die Versetzungscluster generieren sich hauptsächlich an Korngrenzen. Dabei werden die Kleinwinkelkorngrenzen durch die Restrukturierung von Versetzungen sekundär gebildet. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass dies während der Erstarrung unmittelbar nach der Phasengrenze geschieht. Die treibenden Kräfte sind demnach thermische Spannungen an der Erstarrungsfront. Die Versetzungen und damit die Subkorn-Strukturen erreichen die Phasengrenze und bleiben bei der weiteren Kristallisation erhalten, sodass die kontinuierlich auftretenden thermischen Spannungen mit neuen Versetzungen und damit mit erneuter Bildung von Versetzungen und Subkorngrenzen abgebaut werden müssen. Durch diesen Vererbungseffekt erhöht sich die Versetzungsdichte stetig mit steigender Blockhöhe.
Im Abschluss werden Maßnahmen zur Reduktion der Versetzungsdichte im Kristallisationsprozess diskutiert. Beim Ankeimen am Tiegelboden oder während der Erstarrung sollten geeignete Kornorientierungen bevorzugt werden. Eine weitere Maßnahme ist die Reduktion der radialen thermischen Spannungen während der Kristallisation. Unbekannt bleibt die genaue, atomare Ursache der erhöhten Versetzungsgeneration an Korngrenzen und die damit verbundene spontane Bildung von Versetzungsclustern. Weiterhin bleibt offen, ob und in welchem Umfang Lomer-Cottrell-Versetzungen innerhalb der Subkorngrenzen gebildet werden und welchen Einfluss diese auf die elektrische Aktivität haben.
This thesis addresses fundamental physical processes which take place at the surface region of a target during and after the interaction with ultra-short laser pulses. The general goal is to bring together different phenomena and discuss the non-equilibrium nature of the interaction of femtosecond laser pulses (tp < 100 fs) with various materials, in particular dielectrics and semiconductors. Different experiments, using various techniques, are designed to explore the basic mechanisms of laser ionization, defect creation, electron-lattice energetic transfer, charged particles desorption, optical breakdown, phase transformations and surface morphological changes. Such processes are shown to depend strongly on the laser intensity. Thus, they are analyzed for intensities over four orders of magnitude (10^11-10^14 W/cm2), around the surface optical breakdown (damage) threshold intensity. First, experimental studies using time-of-flight mass spectrometry indicate that non-resonant intense ultra-short laser pulses can efficiently ionize a dielectric (semiconducting) material leading to emission of electrons as well as charged particles, i.e. atomic ions and large clusters, and neutral particles. Under these irradiation conditions, the ionization processes can be at best described by multiphoton ionization and ionization at defects sites. The structural defects provide the means for an increased positive ion desorption rate. A multiple pulse incubation effect in the ion yield can be well related with the reduction of the multi-pulse damage threshold with increasing intensity. Following the initial electron excitation and emission, positive ions are released from the surface in a substantial amount with high ion velocities indicative of a localized microscopic electrostatic expulsion. With increasing intensity, the amount of ions gets larger and larger and their velocity distribution exhibits a bimodal structure. Also, in these conditions, negative ions are detected. The ion desorption can arise from a combination of a localized electrostatic repulsion (macroscopic Coulomb explosion) and a thermal ‘explosive’ mechanism. The later becomes more important with increasing intensity. The very fast energy input and particle emission result in a transient perturbation and deformation of the target lattice. Using pump-probe experiments the temporal evolution of lattice dynamics can be analyzed upon single-pulse excitation for many different target materials. This deformation is indicated to be a material characteristic. It is associated with the generation of transient defects in dielectrics or fast phase transitions in semiconductors and metals. Therefore, it could well give estimates of lifetime of transient defect states or electron-phonon relaxation times.At last the surface morphology after ablation is analyzed, with emphasis on the laser-induced surface periodic patterns (ripples). The patterns observed appear to be very different from the ‘classical’ ripples formed after long pulse ablation. They can have periods much smaller than the incident wavelength and are rather insensitive to the variation of the laser wavelength and angle of incidence. We show that control factors are laser beam polarization and the irradiation dose. Additionally, the patterns exhibit features pointing toward a chaotic origin. Their possible formation mechanism is likely linked with the non-equilibrium nature of the interaction.
This thesis addresses the electro-optical properties of silicon, containing dislocations. The interest in those properties is driven mainly by two practical reasons. One is the optical characterisation of multicrystalline silicon for solar cells, and the other is the design of light emitting diodes based on silicon by enhancement of silicon radiative properties via introduction of dislocations. The work demonstrates that dislocation specific radiation may provide a means for optical diagnostics of solar cell grade silicon. It provides insight into the mechanisms governing the dislocation recombination activity, their radiation, and how are they influenced by other defects present in silicon. We demonstrate that photoluminescence mapping is useful for monitoring the recombination activity in solar cell grade silicon and can be applied for identification of contaminants, based on their photoluminescence signatures. It is shown that the recombination at dislocations is strongly influenced by the presence of metals at the dislocation sites. The dislocation radiation activity correlates with their electrical activity. Thus, photoluminescence mapping at room temperature may provide a means for revealing and characterising of dislocation-rich regions in multicrystalline silicon. It is shown that the dislocation and band-to-band luminescence are essentially anti-correlated. The band-to-band intensity being related to the diffusion length of minority carriers can be used for measurements of diffusion length, as long as the surface recombination rate is controlled. Moreover, photoluminescence mapping can be used for the detection of optically active defects in solar grade materials. Thus, betaFeSi2 precipitates, with a luminescence at 0.8 eV, were detected within the grains of block cast materials. They exhibit a characteristic feature of quantum dots, namely blinking. The second aspect of the thesis concerns the topic of silicon based light emitters for on-chip optical interconnects. The goal is an enhancement of sub-band-gap or band-to-band radiation by controlled formation of dislocation-rich areas in microelectronics-grade silicon as well as understanding of the processes governing such enhancement. For light emitters based on band-to-band emission it is shown, that internal quantum efficiency of nearly 2 % can be achieved, but the emission is essentially generated in the bulk of the wafer. On the other hand, light emitters utilizing the emission from dislocation-rich areas of a well localized wafer depth were explored. Three different methods for reproducible formation of a dislocation-rich region beneath the wafer surface were investigated and evaluated in view of their room temperature sub-band-gap radiation: (1) silicon implantation and annealing, (2) epitaxially grown SiGe buffer, and (3) direct wafer bonding. The most promising dislocation-based emitter appears the utilization of a dislocation network produced by wafer bonding. It is shown, that monochromatic D1 radiation (wavelength 1.5 µm) can be generated in a well localised depth of the wafer. The radiation is not absorbed in silicon and such localized emitter can, potentially, be coupled with silicon waveguides and Ge-based detectors for optical interconnects.
The thesis presents the results of the investigations of electronic properties and defect states of dislocation networks (DNs) in silicon produced by wafers direct bonding technique. Practical interest for the investigations in this area issued – first of all – from the potential application of such dislocation networks in microelectronics as all-Si light emitter for on-chip interconnection. Besides, dislocation networks may serve as a perfect model object to get new information about the fundamental properties of dislocations and grain boundaries in Si, what is of particular importance for multicrystalline silicon solar cells performance. Despite of a long story of studying of dislocations in silicon, a new insight into the understanding of their very attractive properties was succeeded due to the usage of a new, recently developed silicon wafer direct bonding technique, allowing to create regular dislocation networks with predefined dislocation types and densities. Samples for the investigations were prepared by hydrophilic bonding of p-type Si (100) wafers with same small misorientation tilt angle (~0,5°), but with four different twist misorientation angles Atw (being of <1°, 3°, 6° and 30°, respectively), thus giving rise to the different DN microstructure on every particular sample. The main experimental approach of this work was the measurements of current and capacitance of Schottky diodes prepared on the samples which contained the dislocation network at a depth that allowed one to realize all capabilities of different methods of space charge region spectroscopy (such as CV/IV, DLTS, ITS, etc.). The key tasks for the investigations were specified as the exploration of the DN-related gap states, their variations with gradually increasing twist angle Atw, investigation of the electrical field impact on the carrier emission from the dislocation-related states, as well as the establishing of the correlation between the electrical (DLTS), optical (photoluminescence PL) and structural (TEM) properties of DNs. The most important conclusions drawn from the experimental investigations and theoretical calculations can be formulated as follows: - DLTS measurements have revealed a great difference in the electronic structure of small-angle (SA) and large-angle (LA) bonded interfaces: dominating shallow level and a set of 6-7 deep levels were found in SA-samples with Atw of 1° and 3°, whereas the prevalent deep levels – in LA-samples with Atw of 6° and 30°. The critical twist misorientation angle separating SA- and LA- interfaces was estimated as Atw*≈ 3,5±0,5°, what agrees quiet well with the results of previous PL and TEM investigations. - For the dominating shallow traps in SA-samples (denoted as ST1/ST3 traps) a new phenomenon – that is ‘giant Poole-Frenkel effect’ of enhanced carrier emission due to dislocations elastic strain field was observed for the first time. Performed theoretical calculations have shown that in the investigated samples such an effect should be ascribed to the row of 60° dislocations rather than to the mesh of screw ones. In this respect, shallow traps ST1/ST3 were identified either with shallow 1D bands (directly or as being coupled with them) or with shallow stacking fault states on splitted 60° dislocation. - From the comparison and correlations of measured DLTS spectra with the results of PL and TEM investigations it was established, that shallow ST1/ST3 traps participate in D1 radiative recombination and that the structural elements, responsible for D1 luminescence of small-angle DNs, are the triple knots (intersections with screw dislocations) along the 60° dislocations. However, the optimal density of 60° dislocations as well as of triple knots, in other words – the optimal tilt and twist misorientation angles for maximal D1 intensity – needs further clarification.
Historically, Ge is one of the oldest materials in the semiconductor industry and its (001) surface has been the subject of extensive investigations by photoelectron spectroscopy. I am going to challenge the predominant attribution of a semi-conducting nature of the Ge(001) surface in this thesis. My investigations reveal the presence of a Ge(001) surface state above the Fermi-level, occupied at room temperature. Employing time- and temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, I will demonstrate that the presence of this surface state is evidence for the conducting nature of the surface at room temperature.
Sparked by the remarkable properties of the GeSn-alloy and a trend towards Ge-Sn-related multiquantum well fabrication, I investigate the surface electronic structure of Ge(001) after adsorption and incorporation of Sn. With an in-depth analysis of surface core-level shifts, I will extend the growth model of the Sn wetting layer formation by also detailing structural changes in the subsurface region. At the same time, the modifications of the electronic structure will be detailed, observing the removal of the Ge(001) surface states, the creation of a new, Sn-related surface state and the initial stages of the Schottky barrier formation.
β-Ga2O3 is a transparent semi-conducting oxide that has sparked a lot of interest over the last decade, because it offers an ultra-wide band gap and high break down voltage. However, due to its monoclinic crystal structure, device fabrication is rather challenging and researchers are already looking into alternative materials. One of these candidates is ϵ-Ga2O3 and this work presents a combined study by photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations of its electronic structure. (Hard) X-rays reveal the impact of photoelectron recoil and the absence of a band bending to the surface, while the dispersion of experimentally determined valence states compares favorably with the calculations based on hybrid density-functional theory.
Another alternative to β-Ga2O3 could be ZnGa2O4 and I will present an investigation on the electronic structure of its (100) surface. Due to the novelty of ZnGa2O4 single-crystals, I am first going to explore the preparation of a clean and well-ordered surface by standard in-situ sputtering and annealing. I will show that already low annealing temperatures induce Zn-deficiency, leading to non-stoichiometric surfaces, further exacerbated by sputtering. By changing the sputtering parameters and the annealing conditions, the preparation of a surface with sufficient quality for subsequent investigations will be demonstrated. The results by photoemission techniques compare favorably with the expectations from theory and allowing the first fundamental insights into the surface electronic structure.
This thesis focuses on the investigation and characterization of the surfaces and interfaces of chalcopyrite-based Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin film solar cells using various x-ray and electron spectroscopies. In particular, the impact of alkali post deposition treatments (PDT) on the chemical and electronic surface and interface structure of CdS/CIGSe absorbers is studied.
The structure of “real world” CdS/CIGSe interfaces and how they are impacted by different alkali PDTs was investigated by a combination of different x-ray spectroscopies. The interface formation is characterized by studying sample sets with different CdS thicknesses. The chemical environment for indium and cadmium is revealed by deriving the modified Auger parameter α'(In) and α'(Cd) using the kinetic energy of most prominent Auger line together with the binding energy of the chosen core level. A more complex situation is found for CdS/CIGSe samples that underwent NaF+KF PDT, where a K-In-Se compound is initially present on top of the chalcopyrite absorber. The conversion of the K-In-Se type species into a Cd-In-(O,OH,S,Se) interface compound is recorded at short CBD-CdS deposition times. It appears the majority of K that is present at the surface of the NaF+KF PDT CIGSe absorber is dissolved in the CBD and partially re-deposited as K-O type species. The Cd/S ratio clearly deviates from the stoichiometry expected for CdS, and a Cd(O,OH,S)-like compound is likely formed. The electronic structure of CdS/CIGSe interface is similarly more complex for the NaF+KF PDT compared to the NaF PDT case, where only Cd(O,OH,S) buffer was formed.
In an attempt to shed more light into this complex situation, the impact of evaporated alkali metals (K, Rb, Cs) on the surface structure of CIGSe was studied in-system by synchrotron-based hard x- ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES), aiming at understanding the underlying mechanism of the interfacial effect of alkalis on the performance of CIGSe devices. In the case of K deposition, two K species are observed by x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and HAXPES, one of which species disappears at high annealing temperature. Furthermore, three new In contributions (In-O and K-In-Se, metallic In species) can be observed after K evaporation. The evolution of chemical contribution supports the formation of a K-In-Se and Cu-poor CIGSe (1:3:5) bilayer structure that is similar to what was reported for “real world” NaF+KF PDTs. Deposition of heavy alkali metals (Rb, Cs) induced the formation of alkali selenide phases after alkali evaporation and during low temperature annealing. Similar chemical changes as seen for the K composition (i.e. presence of metallic In, In-O, and alkali-O) are observed. However, detailed analysis of the Alk/Se ratio and composition provide direct evidence for the formation of a Alk-(In)-Se and (Cu,Alk)(In, Ga)Se2 bilayer.
The insights from these studies promise to provide crucial aid to fully exploit alkali pre-treatments in scientific and industrial CIGSe production, and will deliberate use of this means of surface/interface tailoring to push efficiencies even further.