Admittance spectroscopy

Kell DB (1987) The principles and potential of electrical admittance spectroscopy an introduction. In Turner APF, Karube I, Wilson GS (eds). Biosensors fundamentals and applications. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 427... 

In bulk heterojunction solar cells, the metal/semiconductor interface is even more complex. Now the metal comes into contact with two semiconductors, one p-type (typically the polymer) and one n-type (typically the fullerene) semiconductor. A classical electrical characterization technique for studying the occurrence of charged states in the bulk or at the interface of a solar cell is admittance spectroscopy. If a solar cell is considered as a capacitor with capacitance C, the complex admittance Y is given by... 

It must also be mentioned that evidence for USTDs with ionization energies down to 23 mcV has been obtained by low-temperature admittance spectroscopy and thermally-stimulated capacitance measurements in standard CZ silicon samples annealed at 470°C in oxygen ambient for up to 500 h [1],... 

In 677-SiC, B replaces a Si atom and its ionization energies in the three non-equivalent sites measured by admittance spectroscopy are 0.27, 0.31, and 0.38 eV [56], In undoped and boron-doped p-type 6H-SiC samples, a photoionization spectrum with a temperature-dependent threshold between 0.5 and 0.7eV, and a maximum at 1.75 eV has been reported [83]. The difference between the threshold energy and the electrically-measured ionization energy of B (0.3-0.4eV) is attributed to lattice relaxation. This photoionization spectrum is correlated with the observation near LHeT of three narrow absorption lines at 2.824, 2.863, and 2.890 eV tentatively attributed to excitons bound to neutral B at the three possible sites in 6H-SiC. 

In this Datareview, we concentrate on deep levels measured by capacitance and admittance techniques those measured by other techniques are detailed in Datareview 4.1. For completeness, trap parameters for major defects and impurities obtained from all techniques are listed. Capacitance techniques have proven useful for the characterisation of deep states in semiconductor devices. In particular, states which are non-radiative can be analysed by this technique. If the state under study is one which principally determines the conductivity of the crystal, the techniques of admittance spectroscopy are used. The set-up for doing capacitance and admittance spectroscopy on SiC is identical to that used for other semiconductors with the exception of the necessity to operate the system at higher temperatures in order to access potentially deeper levels in the energy gap. The data are summarised in TABLE 1. 

Most impurity and defect states in SiC can be considered as deep levels. Both capacitance and admittance spectroscopy provide data on these deep levels which can act as donor or acceptor traps. Bulk 6H-SiC contains intrinsic defects which are thermally stable, up to 1700 °C. In epitaxial films of 6H-SiC a deep acceptor level is seen in boron-implanted samples but not when other impurities are implanted. Other centres, acting as electron traps, are also seen in p-n junction and Schottky barrier structures. Irradiation of 6H-SiC produces 6 deep levels, reducing to 2 after annealing. Only limited studies have been carried out on the 3C-SiC polytype, in the form of epitaxial films on silicon substrates. No levels were seen in thick films but electron traps were seen in thin n-type films and a hole trap (structural defect) was found to be a mobility killer. Neutron irradiation produces defects most of which can be removed by annealing. Two levels were found in Al-implanted 4H-SiC. 

TOF, time-of-flight OTFT, organic thin fUm transistor DISCLC, dark-injection space-charge-Kmited current AS, admittance spectroscopy. 

Photoluminescence (PL) and EL spectroscopy can be used to determine the presence of traps. Other techniques include current voltage measurements, capacitance voltage measurements, capacitance transient spectroscopy, and admittance spectroscopy. Under favorite conditions, the identification of the nature of the trap is possible. 

There are some techniques, such as admittance spectroscopy and deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), that are quite powerful in the characterization of deep levels in semiconductors [139]. These techniques have also begun to be used for the characterization of conjugated polymers such as PPV [178] and MEH-PPV [179]. These techniques may permit the determination of several trap parameters such as activation energy, concentration, charge carrier capture cross section, defect donor/acceptor character that can contribute to the chemical identification of the traps. 

Table 1 list some important phenomenological length scales which influences the phenomena like charge transfer, screening (electronic and ionic), diffusion, adsorption, ohmic loss and diffusion length w.r.t experimental techniques like chronoamperometry, electrochemical impedance or admittance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. 

In most cases, the measurements are carried out isothermally in the frequency domain and the terms dielectric spectroscopy (DS) and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS) are then used. Other terms frequently used for DRS are impedance spectroscopy and admittance spectroscopy. Impedance spectroscopy is usually used in connection with electrolytes and electrochemical studies, whereas admittance spectroscopy often refers to semiconductors and devices. Isothermal measurements in the time domain are often used, either as a convenient tool for extending the range of measurements to low frequencies (slow time-domain spectroscopy, dc transient current method, isothermal charging-discharging current measurements) or for fast measurements corresponding to the frequency range of about 10 MHz - 10 GHz (time-domain spectroscopy or time-domain reflectometry). Finally, TSDC is a special dielectric technique in the temperature domain, which will be discussed in Section 2.2. 

Figure 32 Admittance spectroscopy frequency-dependent relative capacitance C/Cq (a) and frequency-dependent differential susceptance (b).

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