At the same time, holes are developed in the places where the electrons are missing– these holes behave like positively charged charge providers and are also crucial for the efficiency of the respective application.The habits of unfavorable and positive charge providers in semiconductors frequently differs by orders of magnitude in terms of mobility, diffusion lengths, and lifetime. Up until now, the criteria of the transportation homes had to be figured out separately for each type of charge, utilizing various measurement methods.Single measurementAs part of his “Maria Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship,” HZB physicist Dr. Artem Musiienko has now developed a new approach that can tape-record all 14 criteria of negative and positive charge carriers in a single measurement.The “Constant Light-Induced Magneto-Transport (CLIMAT)” uses a magnetic field vertically through the sample and a consistent light source for charge separation. The charge providers move along an electric field and are deflected by the magnetic field perpendicular to their instructions of motion (Hall impact), according to their mass, movement, and other properties.A total of 14 different residential or commercial properties can be determined from the signals and, in specific, the distinctions between the signals of the different charge providers, Musiienko revealed with a cool little system of equations.p and n charge carriers” CLIMAT thus offers a detailed insight into the complex mechanisms of charge transportation, both negative and positive charge carriers, with a single measurement.
The intense spheres signify bound charge providers (favorable and unfavorable) in the material. The beam separates these charges, which are then deflected in various methods in the used electromagnetic field. With the CLIMAT approach, around 14 various criteria of the transportation residential or commercial properties in semiconductors can be measured with a single measurement, for instance, density, lifetime, diffusion lengths, and movement. Credit: Laura Canil (www.canilvisuals.com) An HZB physicist has developed a brand-new approach for the thorough characterization of semiconductors in a single measurement. The “Constant Light-Induced Magneto-Transport (CLIMAT)” is based on the Hall impact and allows to record 14 different criteria of transportation properties of favorable and negative charge carriers. The method was tested now on twelve different semiconductor materials and will save important time in evaluating brand-new products for optoelectronic applications such as solar cells.Solar cells, transistors, detectors, sensing units, and LEDs all have one thing in typical: they are made of semiconductor materials whose charge carriers are only launched when they are struck by light (photons). The photons knock electrons (negative charge carriers) out of their orbits, which move through the product up until they are caught once again after a particular time. At the same time, holes are developed in the places where the electrons are missing– these holes behave like favorably charged charge providers and are also essential for the performance of the respective application.The habits of favorable and negative charge providers in semiconductors typically differs by orders of magnitude in terms of movement, diffusion lengths, and lifetime. Up until now, the specifications of the transportation homes needed to be determined individually for each kind of charge, utilizing different measurement methods.Single measurementAs part of his “Maria Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship,” HZB physicist Dr. Artem Musiienko has now developed a new approach that can tape-record all 14 specifications of negative and positive charge providers in a single measurement.The “Constant Light-Induced Magneto-Transport (CLIMAT)” utilizes a magnetic field vertically through the sample and a consistent light for charge separation. The charge carriers move along an electrical field and are deflected by the magnetic field perpendicular to their instructions of movement (Hall effect), according to their mass, movement, and other properties.A total of 14 various properties can be determined from the signals and, in specific, the distinctions between the signals of the different charge providers, Musiienko showed with a neat little system of equations.p and n charge providers” CLIMAT hence supplies a detailed insight into the complicated mechanisms of charge transportation, both negative and favorable charge carriers, with a single measurement. This enables us to evaluate brand-new kinds of semiconductor products a lot more quickly, for instance for their viability as solar cells or for other applications,” says Musiienko.Testing various semiconductor materialsTo show the broad applicability of the new technique, research teams at HZB, the University of Potsdam, and other organizations in the USA, Switzerland, the UK, and Ukraine have now used it to define an overall of twelve extremely various semiconductor materials, including silicon, halide perovskite movies, organic semiconductors such as Y6, semi-insulators, self-assembled monolayers, and nanoparticles. The results have actually now been published in Nature Communications.Outlook: a really compact instrumentIndependent experts such as Prof Vitaly Podzorov from Rutgers University, USA, awarded the CLIMAT method 15 out of 16 points in Nature Electronics and consider the brand-new technique to be groundbreaking. In particular, CLIMAT gets rid of a lot of the actions previously required for different measurements therefore saving valuable time. In early 2024, the CLIMAT method was approved for patenting by the European Patent Office under the number EP23173681.0.” Negotiations are presently underway with companies about accrediting our method,” states Musiienko. The goal is a compact measuring device, about the size of a notebook.Reference: “Resolving electron and hole transport properties in semiconductor materials by constant light-induced magneto transportation” by Artem Musiienko, Fengjiu Yang, Thomas William Gries, Chiara Frasca, Dennis Friedrich, Amran Al-Ashouri, Elifnaz Sağlamkaya, Felix Lang, Danny Kojda, Yi-Teng Huang, Valerio Stacchini, Robert L. Z. Hoye, Mahshid Ahmadi, Andrii Kanak and Antonio Abate, 5 January 2024, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-44418-1.