New Concepts of Semiconductor. 3 credits, 3 contact hours

Catalog description

Prerequisite: PHYS 687 and ECE 657 . This is an advanced course on semiconductor physics targeted at describing polycrystalline materials, e.g. cadmium telluride or copper indium diselenide, that are currently used in thin-gilm photovoltiac panels. An overview of classical semiconductor and solar cell theory is followed by topics such as non-shallow dopants, multi-level defects, defect transition energy level, and metastability. These concepts are applied to examine minority carrier lifetime and carrier collection in devices, and to extend the theories of admittance and deep level transient spectroscopy.