Chemical Control of Recombination at Semiconductor Interfaces

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project is in the general area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfields of semiconductor electro- chemistry and photochemistry. Mechanistic aspects of interfacial electron transfer at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface will be investigated experimentally in order to test current theories of junction behavior. In addition, chemical control of electron-hole recombination sites will be investigated. The reactivity of the electrically important surface trapping sites at etched silicon and gallium arsenide surfaces will be studied by investigating the chemistry and resultant physical properties of semiconductor surfaces in reactions with substitution-labile transition metal complexes. Spectroscopic studies of the semiconductor-complex interaction will be performed to elucidate the metal oxidation state, coordination shell, and electronic properties of the modified surface. Photoelectrochemical passivation of silicon surfaces will be studied. Electron transfer kinetics under high injection conditions in crystalline and amorphous silicon will be also be investigated. Experiments with carefully prepared semiconductor surfaces will be performed in order to deduce relations between the surface concentration of majority carriers and the rate of interfacial electron transfer. Chemical information regarding electrically important surface sites will be obtained. These results will provide information basic to the understanding of the processing of semiconductors for electronic devices and solar energy conversion.