When light is incident on a semiconductor or solar cell, electrons can make transitions to excited states.  These electrons can be swept away to create electricity, or can return to the ground state by producing heat or light.  We study the emitted light, or photoluminescence, to characterize the semiconductor and make it better.  The encylcopedia article below discusses how photoluminescence can be used to analyze the physical properties of surfaces and interfaces in a semiconductor structure or device.  The second article describes a defect-related energy level that we discovered with photoluminescence measurements.

 

 

Photoluminescence in Analysis of Surfaces and Interfaces

Timothy H. Gfroerer

Davidson College, Davidson, USA

in

Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry

R.A. Meyers (Ed.)

pp. 9209–9231

© John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, 2000

Deep donor-acceptor pair recombination in InGaAs-based heterostructures grown on InP substrates

T.H. Gfroerer, C.E. Gillespie, and J.P. Campbell

Davidson College, Davidson, USA

M.W. Wanlass

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401

in Journal of Applied Physics  98, 093708 (2005).

 ( Download pdf file )