Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:51:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo6668_1.pdf: 4537343 bytes, checksum: b1d354c9c6adf844dce72f2664ac6688 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Novos compósitos biocompatíveis à base de Pontos Quânticos de CdTe funcionalizados com o biopolímero quitosana, com elevada luminescência e promissoras possibilidades de aplicações biológicas foram obtidos. Adicionalmente, um novo compósito metálico foi sintetizado com o precursor polimérico nanoparticulado, para fins de obtenção de um novo material passível de aplicação em terapia fotodinâmica. A otimização de alguns parâmetros físico-químicos da quitosana tais como solubilização em meio aquoso neutro e diminuição da viscosidade intrínseca como recurso para a síntese do material polimérico particulado, constituiu-se numa das etapas inicias do presente trabalho. Reações de desacetilação e hidrólise oxidativa foram realizadas, além da sistematização da relação entre a concentração da quitosana e de seu agente reticulante, em busca de uma configuração adequada para a obtenção de partículas com menores diâmetros e elevada carga superficial, o que potencializa a aplicabilidade biológica das mesmas. A partir daí foram obtidos seus compósitos metálicos e semicondutores. Os resultados apresentados indicam que o processo de desacetilação e despolimerização mostraram-se eficientes, fornecendo material com alto grau de desacetilação, atingindo valores superiores a 99% e viscosidades reduzidas com relação ao material comercial de partida. Nanopartículas de quitosana com diâmetro médio de 18 nm e potencial zeta de 36,58 mV foram obtidas em meio livre de ácido. Os compósitos metálicos se apresentaram como sistemas core-shell e exibiram tendências à aglomeração e precipitação em regime coloidal enquanto que os compósitos semicondutores apresentaram boa estabilidade ótica e coloidal, ampliando suas perspectivas de aplicabilidade para os fins mencionados acima. Um novo compósito semicondutor foi sintetizado, utilizando-se a quitosana em sua forma salina como cloridrato de quitosana. A utilização desse compósito luminescente para fins de marcação in vitro de células de cultura de Cândida Albicans e melanona foi realizada. Fatores relativos à obtenção do nanomaterial polimérico, bem como o tratamento químico inicial, e seus compósitos foram apresentados e discutidos

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le cadre de la mission Sino-française SVOM (Space-based multi-band Variable Object Monitor) dédiée à l'étude des sursauts gamma à l'horizon 2020. Ces explosions cosmologiques très intenses apparaissent aléatoirement sur le ciel comme des bouffées de photons très brèves (de quelques milli-secondes à quelques minutes). Ils sont engendrés par la formation catastrophique de trous noirs dans le cœur de certaines étoiles massives en effondrement gravitationnel ou par la coalescence de deux objets compacts et se caractérisent par de puissants jets ultra-relativistes orientés vers la Terre. SVOM permettra d'étudier la nature des progéniteurs, les mécanismes d'accélération des particules et les processus d'émission associés, la géométrie des jets et leurs compositions. Le satellite implémentera une charge utile multi-longueur d'onde dont le cœur sera la caméra grand-champ à masque codé, ECLAIRs, en charge de la détection et de la localisation des sursauts gamma entre 4 et 150 keV. Ma thèse a pour objectif de caractériser les performances scientifiques des modules de détection XRDPIX (i.e. un hybride de 8x4 détecteurs couplés à une électronique bas bruit) qui paveront le plan de détection, DPIX, de la caméra. Pour ce faire, je discute ma méthodologie pour caractériser les impacts des paramètres instrumentaux sur les performances des XRDPIX en me basant sur les résultats des nombreuses campagnes de tests que j'ai menées sur plusieurs modules au moyen d'un banc de test vide-thermique dédié et de sources radioactives. J'étudie la contribution des différentes sources de bruit en développant un modèle me permettant de contrôler la qualité du processus d'hybridation des détecteurs avec leur électronique de proximité. Je délimite la zone de fonctionnement optimale pour le vol des modules de détection en étudiant statistiquement l'impact des différents paramètres instrumentaux sur leur bruit et leur efficacité de comptage. Je mets en évidence l'apparition de comportements instables sur quelques voies dans certaines configurations. Je discute le protocole expérimental mis en place pour caractériser la nature de ces instabilités ainsi que les solutions envisagées. J'optimise les critères de sélection des détecteurs pour le modèle de vol à partir de mesures spectroscopiques et de courant de fuite effectuées sur une population de 12000 détecteurs. Finalement, je présente les résultats d'essais réalisés à l'accélérateur TANDEM pour caractériser l'impact des particules chargées (protons de 20 MeV et particules alpha de 30 MeV) sur la chaine électronique d'ECLAIRs. / Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are short and very intense flashes of X-/gamma-ray photons lasting from few milliseconds to hundreds of seconds appearing randomly over the sky. These cosmological events are thought to be due to the catastrophic formation of newly formed black holes following the collapse of some massive stars or after the coalescence of two compact objects and resulting in the launch of powerful ultra-relativistic jets orientated towards the Earth. The Sino-French mission SVOM (Space-based multi-band Variable Object Monitor) is dedicated to the study of these extreme and fascinating transient events and expected to be launched in 2020s. The satellite will implement a multi-wavelength science payload amongst which the core will be the large-field coded-mask camera ECLAIRs in charge of the detection and the localisation of GRBs in the 4-150 keV range. The ECLAIRs detection plane, DPIX, is made of 80x80 Schottky CdTe semi-conductor detectors and the front-end electronics. During my PhD, I mainly worked on the characterization of the scientific performance of the elementary detection modules called XRDPIX (i.e. a hybrid made of 8x4 detectors coupled with a low-noise ASIC) that will paved the DPIX. The main goal is then to derive the best suitable choice of the instrumental parameters in order to optimize the camera in-flight performance. In the manuscript, I discuss the methodology I used to explore the instrument parameter space. I describe the various testing protocoles that I created and the different tests that I performed using several XRDPIX modules in a thermal-vacuum chamber and irradiated with radioactive sources. I discuss in detail the results and the various observables that I used to define the optimal in-flight operating zone of the detection plane. I also study the contribution of the different noise sources coming from the detectors and the electronic chain with a model I designed in order to control the quality of the hybridization process. I also highlight evidence for instable behaviors of some XRDPIX channels. I describe the experiments performed in order to investigate their nature and I discuss the possible solutions to mitigate their impacts of the overall XRDPIX performance. Finally, I study the impact of particles on the ECLAIRs X/?-ray camera electronic chain.

abstract: Semiconductor devices often face reliability issues due to their operational con- ditions causing performance degradation over time. One of the root causes of such degradation is due to point defect dynamics and time dependent changes in their chemical nature. Previously developed Unified Solver was successful in explaining the copper (Cu) metastability issues in cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells. The point defect formalism employed there could not be extended to chlorine or arsenic due to numerical instabilities with the dopant chemical reactions. To overcome these shortcomings, an advanced version of the Unified Solver called PVRD-FASP tool was developed. This dissertation presents details about PVRD-FASP tool, the theoretical framework for point defect chemical formalism, challenges faced with numerical al- gorithms, improvements for the user interface, application and/or validation of the tool with carefully chosen simulations, and open source availability of the tool for the scientific community. Treating point defects and charge carriers on an equal footing in the new formalism allows to incorporate chemical reaction rate term as generation-recombination(G-R) term in continuity equation. Due to the stiff differential equations involved, a reaction solver based on forward Euler method with Newton step is proposed in this work. The Jacobian required for Newton step is analytically calculated in an elegant way improving speed, stability and accuracy of the tool. A novel non-linear correction scheme is proposed and implemented to resolve charge conservation issue. The proposed formalism is validated in 0-D with time evolution of free carriers simulation and with doping limits of Cu in CdTe simulation. Excellent agreement of light JV curves calculated with PVRD-FASP and Silvaco Atlas tool for a 1-D CdTe solar cell validates reaction formalism and tool accuracy. A closer match with the Cu SIMS profiles of Cu activated CdTe samples at four different anneal recipes to the simulation results show practical applicability. A 1D simulation of full stack CdTe device with Cu activation at 350C 3min anneal recipe and light JV curve simulation demonstrates the tool capabilities in performing process and device simulations. CdTe device simulation for understanding differences between traps and recombination centers in grain boundaries demonstrate 2D capabilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2019

This thesis is focused on a study of CdTe and CdZnTe semiconductor detectors working under high flux of radiation. We studied experimentally an influence of high flux of X-rays and optical radiation on polarization of the detector. The polarization phenomenon decreases the efficiency of the detector due to a screening of an applied electric field by a space charge accumulated at deep levels due to a trapping of photogenerated carriers. In order to measure the electric field profiles in the detectors we employed a method based on cross polarizers technique and Pockels effect. The main objective of this work was to study the possibilities of an optical de-polarization of CdTe and CdZnTe detectors for different photon energies of additional light, its dynamics and physical origin. We have found that detectors can be de-polarized by above bandgap light. Moreover, CdZnTe detector can be depolarized by near infrared light and in a pulse mode. The de- polarization is associated with a compensation of the space charge at deep traps.

Semiconducting material CdTe/CdZnTe has a huge application potential in spectroscopic room temperature radiation detection due to its properties. Such detectors can be used in medical applications, homeland security and for monitoring of nuclear facilities. However, the final device quality is influenced by many parameters. One crucial stage in detector fabrication is the proper surface treatment. The detailed study of surface treatments and their effect on final detector device is reported. Another crucial fact is the polarization of the detector caused by high radiation fluxes which negatively affects the use of such devices. The polarization occurs by capturing the photogenerated holes at the deep levels inside the semiconductor. The possible detector depolarization by infrared illumination during the detector operation has been experimentally verified and the obtained results are shown in this thesis. For optimal technology of preparation, it is also necessary to develop the fast characterization method for prepared detectors. The last aim of the thesis is to study the resulting quality of prepared planar and co-planar detectors by transient-current-technique (TCT). TCT is an electro-optical method allowing to determine variety of transport properties of radiation detectors, such as internal electric...

No description available.

CdTe and ZnTe are common semiconductors, currently used in a wide variety of applications. Heterostructures, composed of two or more layered materials, create further potential for the use of these semiconductors in the development of new technologies. In this thesis, the epitaxial growth of CdTe/ZnTe thin films and heterostructures are studied with the intention of better understanding the mechanisms by which they grow and how their overall structure and properties may be modified. Single-layer, bilayer, and multilayer structures were grown by pulsed laser deposition on sapphire substrates. The resulting crystal structure, interface, and optical properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electron microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. It was found that the growth conditions have a direct impact on the crystal quality of these materials, that can be understood in terms of the growth dynamics and film-substrate interactions. Domain formation was also found to vary between CdTe and ZnTe depositions, revealing important information about their growth. This work presents methods of consistently producing high quality CdTe and ZnTe thin films and bilayers, and insight into how this may be applied to the growth of multilayer films. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

In this work we investigated fabrication of semiconductor nanomaterials and evaluated their potential for photo-chemical and photovoltaic applications. We investigated two different II-VI semiconductor nanomaterial systems; (i) ZnO oriented nanowire arrays non-epitaxially grown from a substrate; and (ii) colloidal CdTe nanotetrapods synthesized by solution-based thermal decomposition of organo-metallic precursors. In both the cases our main focus has been optimizing material synthesis for improving potential applications based on photon-electron interactions. We have studied the synthesis of vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays (NWA), by a wet chemical process on various substrates. The synthesis is based on epitaxial growth of ZnO seed-layer on a substrate in a chemical bath consisting of an aqueous solution of zinc nitrate and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT). We have suggested an additional role played by HMT during the synthesis of ZnO nanowire arrays. We have also extended this synthesis method to fabricate hierarchical nanostructures of nanofibers of poly-L-lactide acting as a substrate for the radially oriented growth of ZnO nanowires. The combination of high surface area of the nanofibrous substrate with the flexibility of the PLLA-ZnO hierarchical nanostructure enabled the proof-of-principle demonstration of a ‘continuous-flow’ water treatment system that could effectively decompose single and combination of known organic pollutants in water, as well as render common waterborne bacteria nonviable. We have studied another chemical synthesis that is commonly used for size controlled synthesis of colloidal quantum dots, which was modified to obtain anisotropic nanocrystals mainly for CdE (E=S, Se, Te) compositions. In this work we demonstrate by use of oleic acid (instead of alkylphosphonic acids) it is possible to synthesize CdTe and CdSe nanotetrapods at much lower temperatures (~180 ºC) than what is commonly reported in the literature, with significantly different  formation mechanism in the low-temperature reaction. Finally, we have performed preliminary photoconduction measurements with CdTe nanotetrapods using gold ‘nanogap’ electrodes fabricated in-house, and obtain up to 100 times enhancement in current levels in the I–V measurements under illumination with a white light source. / QC20100607

The development of devices with high efficiencies can only be attained by tandem structures which are important to the advancement of thin-film photoelectrochemical (PEC) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. FSEC PV Materials Lab has developed a PEC cell using multiple bandgap tandem of thin film PV cells and a photocatalyst for hydrogen production by water splitting. CdS/CdTe solar cell, a promising candidate for low-cost, thin-film PV cell is used as one of the thin film solar cells in a PEC cell. This research work focuses on developing various back contacts with good transparency in the infrared region (~750 - 1150 nm) for a CdS/CdTe solar cell. CdS/CdTe solar cells were prepared with three different configurations, Glass/SnO2:F/CdS/CdTe/ZnTe:Cu/ITO/Ni-Al (series 1), Glass/SnO2:F/CdS/CdTe/Cu2Te/ITO/Ni-Al (series 2), Glass/SnO2:F/CdS/CdTe/Br-Me etching/Cu/ITO/Ni-Al (series 3). The back contact preparation process for a CdS/CdTe solar cell involves the deposition of a primary p-type back contact interface layer followed by the deposition of transparent and conducting ITO and a Ni-Al outer metallization layer. Back contact interface layers were initially optimized on glass substrates. A ZnTe:Cu layer for a series 1 cell was deposited using hot wall vacuum evaporation (HWVE). Cu2Te and Cu thin films for series 2 and series 3 cells were deposited by vacuum evaporation. HWVE technique produced highly stoichiometric ZnTe:Cu thin films with cubic phase having {111} texture orientation. All the back contact interface layers demonstrated better transparency in the infrared region on glass substrate. Formation of crystalline phase and texture orientation were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The composition was analyzed by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). Transparency measurements were carried out by optical transmission spectroscopy. Thickness measurements were carried out using a DEKTAK surface profile measuring system. Finally, completed solar cells for all the series were characterized for current-voltage (I-V) measurements using the I-V measurement setup developed at the FSEC PV Materials Lab. The PV parameters for the best series 1 cell measured at an irradiance of 1000 W/m2 were: open circuit voltage, Voc = 630 mV, short circuit current, Isc = 7.68 mA/ cm2, fill factor, FF = 37.91 %, efficiency, ç = 3.06 %. The PV parameters for the best series 2 cell measured were: Voc = 690 mV, Isc = 8.7 mA/ cm2, FF = 45.19 %, ç = 4.8 %. The PV parameters for the best series 3 cell measured were: Voc = 550 mV, Isc = 9.70 mA/ cm2, FF = 42.25 %, ç = 5.63 %. The loss in efficiency was attributed to the possible formation of a non-ohmic contact at the interface of CdTe and back contact interface layer. Decrease in the fill factor was attributed to high series resistance in the device.