Une alternative aux énergies fossiles est le domaine du photovoltaïque organique qui a récemment commencé son transfert technologique des laboratoires de recherche vers l’industrie. De nombreux efforts de recherche sont réalisés sur les matériaux et les procédés pour augmenter les performances des cellules solaires organiques. Dans ce contexte, ce travail présente une étude complète allant de la conception de nouveaux polymères donneurs d’électrons à grande largeur de bande interdite à leur caractérisation en dispositifs photovoltaïques. La principale caractéristique recherchée a été de diminuer le niveau énergétique HOMO des polymères pour augmenter la tension en circuit ouvert des dispositifs photovoltaïques. L’approche « donneur-accepteur » a été utilisée pour obtenir les propriétés désirées. Des polymères comportant des unités pauvres en électrons, quinoxaline ou dithienoquinoxaline, et des unités riches en électrons, dibenzosilole ou carbazole, ont été synthétisés par couplage de Suzuki ou par hétéroarylation directe. Des masses molaires allant jusqu’à 56 kg.mol-1 ont été obtenues. Le motif quinoxaline a été décliné sous forme de plusieurs molécules substituées par des atomes de fluor sur le benzène ou par des groupements thiophènes, bithiophènes et terthiophènes sur la partie pyrazine. Des espaceurs thiophènes ou thiazoles ont été utilisés pour relier l’unité riche en électrons et l’unité pauvre en électrons. Les relations entre les modifications structurales et les propriétés structurales et optoélectroniques des polymères ont été analysées. Les propriétés optiques ont été étudiées par spectroscopie UV-visible et par spectroscopie de fluorescence et ont montré une absorption allant jusqu’à 550 nm pour les polymères à motifs dithienoquinoxaline-dibenzosilole, 650 nm pour les polymères à motifs quinoxaline-dibenzosilole et 700 nm pour la famille quinoxaline-carbazole. Ces valeurs correspondent à des largeurs de bande interdite comprises entre 1,8 eV et 2,3 eV. Les niveaux énergétiques HOMO et LUMO des polymères ont été déterminés par électrochimie. Tous les polymères possèdent des niveaux énergétiques HOMO inférieurs à -5,0 eV. Les atomes de fluor et les espaceurs thiazoles ont permis d’abaisser les niveaux énergétiques HOMO des polymères jusqu’à -5,69 eV. Les structures des polymères ont été modélisées par DFT et étudiées par diffraction des rayons X. Les mobilités des trous des polymères ont été mesurées en transistor organique à effet de champ, des valeurs atteignant 9,0. 10 3 cm.V 1.s 1 ont été atteintes. Les polymères ont été testés en dispositifs photovoltaïques selon une architecture standard à hétérojonction volumique en mélange binaire et en mélange ternaire. En mélange avec le PC71BM ou l’IC61BA, ces polymères ont permis d’atteindre des tensions en circuit ouvert entre 0,65 V et 1,05 V et des rendements de conversion photovoltaïque jusqu’à 5,14 % sur une surface active de 0,28 cm2. Les morphologies des couches actives ont été étudiées par AFM afin de comprendre en détail les paramètres de fonctionnement des cellules obtenues. Les polymères présentés dans cette étude ont été utilisés dans des cellules solaires à mélange ternaire présentant de bonnes performances. Certains polymères ont été testés dans des photocathodes pour la production d’hydrogène et ont permis d’obtenir une amélioration du potentiel de réduction par rapport à celui obtenu avec les photocathodes à base de P3HT. Enfin, compte tenu de leurs propriétés optoélectroniques et de leurs performances photovoltaïques certains de ces polymères devraient pouvoir être employés de manière avantageuse en sous cellules de dispositifs tandem en remplacement du P3HT par exemple. / An alternative to fossil fuels are the organic photovoltaic cells which have recently started their technological transfer from research laboratories to industry. Many research efforts have been made on the modification of materials and processes to increase the performance of organic solar cells. In this context, this work presents a comprehensive study from the design of new electron-donor high band gap polymers to their characterisation in photovoltaic devices. The main requirement was to decrease the HOMO energy level of the polymers in order to increase the open circuit voltage of the solar cells. The "push-pull" approach was used to obtain the desired properties. Polymers with quinoxaline or dithienoquinoxaline as electron-deficient units and dibenzosilole or carbazole as electron-rich units were synthesized by Suzuki coupling or by direct heteroarylation. Molecular weights up to 56 kg.mol 1 were obtained. The electron-withdrawing unit quinoxaline was substituted by fluorine atoms on the benzene moiety and by thiophene, bithiophene and terthiophene group on the pyrazine moiety. Thiophenes or thiazoles were used as spacers to link the electron-donating and the electron-withdrawing units. The relationship between the structural modification of the polymers and their optoelectronic properties were analysed. The optical properties were studied by UV-visible spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. Whereby it appears that polymers with dithienoquinoxaline-dibenzosilole units showed an absorption up to 550 nm and polymers with both quinoxaline-dibenzosilole units and quinoxaline-carbazole units showed an absorption up to 650-700 nm respectively. The corresponding optical band gaps were found to range from 1.8 eV to 2.3 eV. The HOMO and LUMO energy levels of the polymers were determined by electrochemistry. All polymers exhibited HOMO energy levels below -5.0 eV. Fluorine atoms and thiazole spacers significantly lowered the HOMO energy levels of the polymers up to -5.69 eV. DFT was used to model the polymer structures. X-ray diffraction was used to analyse the distances between the polymer chains. Hole mobilities were measured in organic field effect transistors and values of up to 9.0 x 10 3 cm2.V-1.s-1 were obtained. The polymers were tested in organic photovoltaic devices according to a standard bulk heterojunction structure in binary and ternary mixtures. In a blend with PC71BM or IC61BA, these polymers have led to open circuit voltages ranging from 0.65 V to 1.05 V and to power conversion efficiencies of up to 5.14 % on a surface area of 0.28 cm2. The active layer morphologies were studied by AFM. The polymers presented in this work were used in ternary blend solar cells. Some polymers were tested in photocathodes for hydrogen evolution and showed an improvement of the reduction potential compared to that of the photocathodes based on P3HT. Owing to their optoelectronic properties and their photovoltaic properties in standard device configurations, some of the materials developed in this study appear as valuable materials for future developments of organic tandem solar cells.

<p>Adsorption of organic molecules at a surface of titanium dioxide (101) anatase is studied using quantum-chemical density functional theory. Anatase can be used in solar cells. For the clean anatase surface the band gap is so large that only UV-light can excite electrons. Different groups with conjugated systems are attached to obtain a more suitable band gap. </p><p>Phenol was attached in different positions to a cluster of anatase and geometry optimized using the B3LYP-functional. The geometry that was energetically most favorable was used to put in phenylmethanol, phenylethanol, naphthol, 2-phenanthrol, 1-pyrol and 2-perylol. To give a more realistic model of phenol at anatase, a study of a two- dimensional periodic anatase surface was also made. </p><p>Molecular orbitals were calculated to study the overlap between HOMO and LUMO orbitals. The calculation shows that phenol will remain as a molecule and will not dissociate. The band gap gets smaller when molecules are attached at the cluster and with 2-perylol it reaches the energy of visible light. </p><p>The molecular orbitals for HOMO, LUMO and LUMO of the adsorbed molecule were investigated. HOMO was localized at the molecule, LUMO at the cluster and LUMO of the adsorbed molecule move closer to the energy of LUMO when the number of rings increases.</p>

GaN nanopore arrays with pore diameters of approximately 75 nm were fabricated by inductively coupled plasma etching (ICP) using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) films as etch masks. Nanoporous AAO films were formed on the GaN surface by evaporating an Al film onto a GaN epilayer and subsequently anodizing the aluminum. To minimize plasma-induced damage, the template was exposed to CF4-based plasma conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis shows that the diameter and the periodicity of the nanopores in the GaN were directly transferred from the original anodic alumina template. The pore diameter in the AAO film can be easily controlled by tuning the anodization conditions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and micro-Raman techniques were employed to assess the quality of the etched GaN nanopore surface. Such a cost-effective method to produce nano-patterned GaN template would be useful for growth and fabrication of III-Nitrides based nanostructures and photonic band gap materials. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

<p>In this thesis we report on the metal-mediated-thermally induced changes of the structural and optical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon deposited by hot-wire CVD, where aluminium and nickel were used to induce crystallization. The metal-coated amorphous silicon was subjected to a thermal annealing regime of between 150 and 520&deg / C. The structural measurements, obtained by Raman spectroscopy, show partial crystallization occurring at 350 &deg / C. At the higher annealing temperatures of 450&deg / C and 520&deg / C complete crystallization occurs. Reflection and transmission measurements in the UV-visible range were then used to extract the optical properties. By adopting the effective medium approximation a single optical model could be constructed that could successfully model material that was in different structural phases, irrespective of metal contamination. Changes in the absorption of the material in various stages of transition were confirmed with a directly measured absorption technique, and the modelled absorption closely followed the same trends This study forms part of the larger overall solar cell research project, of which the primary aim is to eventually develop a silicon solar panel that optimises the characteristics for best performance.</p>

Issues of major relevance to the n-type conductivity of Al0.77Ga0.23N associated with Si and O incorporation, their shallow donor or deep donor level behavior, and carrier compensation are elucidated by allying (i) study of Si and O incorporation kinetics at high process temperature and low growth rate, and (ii) electron paramagnetic resonance measurements. The Al0.77Ga0.23N composition correlates to that Al content for which a drastic reduction of the conductivity of AlxGa1−xN is commonly reported. We note the incorporation of carbon, the role of which for the transport properties of AlxGa1−xN has not been widely discussed.

This investigation examines band gap engineering of the GaAsN alloy by means of plasma ion implantation. The strong redshift of the alloy's band gap is suitable for telecommunication applications and thus stimulated much interest in recent years. Nitrogen (N) ion implantation into gallium arsenide (GaAs) results in a thin shallow N-rich layer below the surface. However, the violent implantation process also modifies the concentrations of gallium and arsenide. The core of this thesis is a novel method for prediction of the band gap from the conditions in the processing plasma.<p>The first important variable, the number of implanted ions, is obtained from the Lieberman model for the current during high-voltage Plasma Ion Implantation (PII). A review of the model's assumptions is provided as well as a comprehensive discussion of the implantation which includes error boundaries. The predicted and measured ion currents agree within error boundaries. The number of implanted ions can therefore be obtained from the prediction.<p>The distribution of the implanted ions was subsequently explored by simulations such as TRIM and TRIDYN. It was found that the nitrogen content in GaAs is limited by the sputtering of the surface atoms. Furthermore, the content of gallium increases near the surface while the content of arsenic decreases. The predicted ratios of the constituents in the implanted layer is such that the alloy cannot form by ion implantation alone; it could be reconciled by annealing.<p>Preliminary samples were produced and tested for the formation of the GaAsN alloy by Raman spectroscopy. No evidence for bonds between N and either Ga or As was found in the as-implanted samples. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the necessary steps to synthesize the GaAsN alloy.

Adsorption of organic molecules at a surface of titanium dioxide (101) anatase is studied using quantum-chemical density functional theory. Anatase can be used in solar cells. For the clean anatase surface the band gap is so large that only UV-light can excite electrons. Different groups with conjugated systems are attached to obtain a more suitable band gap. Phenol was attached in different positions to a cluster of anatase and geometry optimized using the B3LYP-functional. The geometry that was energetically most favorable was used to put in phenylmethanol, phenylethanol, naphthol, 2-phenanthrol, 1-pyrol and 2-perylol. To give a more realistic model of phenol at anatase, a study of a two- dimensional periodic anatase surface was also made. Molecular orbitals were calculated to study the overlap between HOMO and LUMO orbitals. The calculation shows that phenol will remain as a molecule and will not dissociate. The band gap gets smaller when molecules are attached at the cluster and with 2-perylol it reaches the energy of visible light. The molecular orbitals for HOMO, LUMO and LUMO of the adsorbed molecule were investigated. HOMO was localized at the molecule, LUMO at the cluster and LUMO of the adsorbed molecule move closer to the energy of LUMO when the number of rings increases.

The general application of soft X-ray spectroscopy in the study of the electronic structure of materials is discussed, with particular emphasis on broad band materials. Several materials are studied using both soft X-ray spectroscopy and density functional theory to provide experimental and theoretical electronic structures, respectively. In particular, bonding, cation hybridization, and band gaps for several binary oxides (the alkali oxides: BeO, MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO; the post-transition metal oxides: ZnO, CdO, HgO; and the period 5 oxides In2O3, SnO, SnO2, Sb2O3, Sb2O5, and TeO2) are studied. The technique of using the peaks in the second derivatives of an X-ray emission and an X-ray absorption spectrum to estimate the band gap of a material is critically analyzed, and a more accurate ``semi-empirical'' method that involves both measured spectra and theoretical calculations is proposed. The techniques used in the study of binary oxides are then applied to a more interesting (and industrially relevant) group of ternary oxides based on TiO2 (PbTiO3, Sn2TiO4, Bi2Ti4O11, Bi4Ti3O12, and ZnTiO3), and a general rule for the band gaps of these materials is suggested based on empirical data. This research may help direct efforts in synthesizing a hydrogen-producing photocatalyst with a band gap that can efficiently harness the bulk of the solar spectrum. Finally, several layered pnictide superconductors and related compounds (CaFe2As2, Co-, Ni- and Cu-doped BaFe2As2, LiFeAs, LiMnAs, CaCu1.7As2, SrCu2As2, SrCu2(As0.84Sb0.16)2, SrCu2Sb2, and BaCu2Sb2) are studied. The X-ray spectra provide rather strong evidence that these materials lack strong on-site Hubbard-like correlations, and that their electronic structures are almost entirely like those of a broad band metal. In particular, it is shown that the notion that the transition metals are all divalent is completely wrong for copper in a layered pnictide, and that at best in these systems the copper is monovalent.

<p>Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is second only to crystalline silicon in volume manufacturing of solar cells due to its attractive characteristics for solar panel manufacturing. These are lower manufacturing costs, and the fact that it can be deposited on any surface, and in any shape even on flexible substrates. The metal induced crystallization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon has been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent years. By combining the technology of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films with the superior characteristics of c-Si material, it is hoped that more efficient solar cells can be produced. In this thesis we report on the metal-mediated-thermally induced changes of the structural and optical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon deposited by hot-wire CVD, where aluminium and nickel were used to induce crystallization. The metal-coated amorphous silicon was subjected to a thermal annealing regime of between 150 and 520&deg / C. The structural measurements, obtained by Raman spectroscopy, show partial crystallization occurring at 350 &deg / C. At the higher annealing temperatures of 450&deg / C and 520&deg / C complete crystallization occurs. Reflection and transmission measurements in the UV-visible range were then used to extract the optical properties. By adopting the effective medium approximation a single optical model could be constructed that couldsuccessfully model material that was in different structural phases, irrespective of metal contamination. Changes in the absorption of the material in various stages of transition were confirmed with a directly measured absorption technique, and the modelled absorption closely followed the same trends This study forms part of the larger overall solar cell research project, of which the primary aim is to eventually develop a silicon solar panel that optimises the characteristics for best performance.</p>

This investigation examines band gap engineering of the GaAsN alloy by means of plasma ion implantation. The strong redshift of the alloy's band gap is suitable for telecommunication applications and thus stimulated much interest in recent years. Nitrogen (N) ion implantation into gallium arsenide (GaAs) results in a thin shallow N-rich layer below the surface. However, the violent implantation process also modifies the concentrations of gallium and arsenide. The core of this thesis is a novel method for prediction of the band gap from the conditions in the processing plasma.<p>The first important variable, the number of implanted ions, is obtained from the Lieberman model for the current during high-voltage Plasma Ion Implantation (PII). A review of the model's assumptions is provided as well as a comprehensive discussion of the implantation which includes error boundaries. The predicted and measured ion currents agree within error boundaries. The number of implanted ions can therefore be obtained from the prediction.<p>The distribution of the implanted ions was subsequently explored by simulations such as TRIM and TRIDYN. It was found that the nitrogen content in GaAs is limited by the sputtering of the surface atoms. Furthermore, the content of gallium increases near the surface while the content of arsenic decreases. The predicted ratios of the constituents in the implanted layer is such that the alloy cannot form by ion implantation alone; it could be reconciled by annealing.<p>Preliminary samples were produced and tested for the formation of the GaAsN alloy by Raman spectroscopy. No evidence for bonds between N and either Ga or As was found in the as-implanted samples. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the necessary steps to synthesize the GaAsN alloy.