Band offset

About: Band offset is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2446 publications have been published within this topic receiving 53450 citations.

Band Alignment Engineering at Cu2O/ZnO Heterointerfaces

Abstract: Energy band alignments at heterointerfaces play a crucial role in defining the functionality of semiconductor devices, yet the search for material combinations with suitable band alignments remains a challenge for numerous applications. In this work, we demonstrate how changes in deposition conditions can dramatically influence the functional properties of an interface, even within the same material system. The energy band alignment at the heterointerface between Cu2O and ZnO was studied using photoelectron spectroscopy with stepwise deposition of ZnO onto Cu2O and vice versa. A large variation of energy band alignment depending on the deposition conditions of the substrate and the film is observed, with valence band offsets in the range ΔEVB = 1.45-2.7 eV. The variation of band alignment is accompanied by the occurrence or absence of band bending in either material. It can therefore be ascribed to a pinning of the Fermi level in ZnO and Cu2O, which can be traced back to oxygen vacancies in ZnO and to metallic precipitates in Cu2O. The intrinsic valence band offset for the interface, which is not modified by Fermi level pinning, is derived as ΔEVB ≈ 1.5 eV, being favorable for solar cell applications.

Electroluminescence from n-ZnO nanowires/p-GaN heterostructure light-emitting diodes

Abstract: The investigation explores the fabrication and characteristics of ZnO nanowire (NW)/p-GaN/ZnO NW heterojunction light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Vertically aligned ZnO NWs arrays were grown on the p-GaN substrate. The n-p-n heterojunction LED was fabricated by combining indium tin oxide/glass substrate with the prepared ZnO NWs/p-GaN substrate. The symmetrical rectifying behavior demonstrates that the heterostructure herein was formed with two p-n junction diodes and connected back to back. The room-temperature electroluminescent emission peak at 415 nm was attributed to the band offset at the interface between n-ZnO and p-GaN and defect-related emission from ZnO and GaN. Finally, the photograph indicated the LED clearly emitted blue light.

Influence of conduction-band nonparabolicity on electron confinement and effective mass in GaNxAs1−x∕GaAs quantum wells

Abstract: We derive an analytical model to describe the conduction-band states of GaNAs-based quantum well structures, including the band anticrossing effect between N resonant states and the conduction-band edge. The predictions of the model are compared to those obtained using a full ten-band k·p model based on the same set of parameters. Both methods are then tested by comparison with the experimentally determined ground- and excited-state interband transition energies of GaNxAs1−x quantum wells of different well widths and N composition x obtained at 300 K and under hydrostatic pressures up to 2.0 GPa . We show that the transition energies can be described by a consistent set of material parameters in all the samples studied, and present how the conduction to valence-band offset ratio varies strongly with x in GaNxAs1−x∕GaAs quantum well structures. We conclude that the model presented can be used to predict the transition energies and electron subband structure of any GaNxAs1−x∕GaAs quantum well with well width between 2 and 25 nm , and N composition x between 1 and 4% , although further work is still required to confirm the optimum choice for the variation of band offset ratio with composition.

Dependence of band offset and open-circuit voltage on the interfacial interaction between TiO2 and carboxylated polythiophenes.

Abstract: The interface of planar TiO2/polymer photovoltaic cells was modified with two carboxylated polythiophenes having different densities of carboxylic acid groups. Both of the interface modifiers increase the photocurrent of the cells but lower the open-circuit voltage. The work function of the TiO2, measured using a Kelvin probe, increases with increasing density of carboxylic acid groups due to the formation of interfacial dipoles pointing toward the TiO2 surface. The formation of interfacial dipoles results in a shift in the band offset at the TiO2/polymer interface, which explains the decrease in the open-circuit voltage. This work demonstrates that care must be taken when using carboxylic acid side groups to attach polymers to titania surfaces in photovoltaic cells. If the density of attachment groups is just enough to attach the polymer, then the benefits of the interface modifier can be realized without substantially decreasing the open-circuit voltage.