Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-95). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-117).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-154).

Organic photovoltaics have shown much promise as an alternative photovoltaic technology for application in low-cost, large-scale and flexible solar cells. The application of metal oxides in organic solar cells (OSCs) and the impact of the properties of metal oxide/organic hetero-interfaces on cell performance have attracted a lot of attention. The metal oxide/organic interfaces have a crucial impact on interfacial charge transfer, charge collection and the overall device performance. This thesis is aimed at clarifying the principal interfacial phenomena occurring at the metal oxide/organic hetero-interfaces as well as effective engineering of those interfacial properties in OSCs. Photo-generated electrons and holes undergo different recombination processes, e.g., bimolecular recombination and trap-assisted recombination, before being collected by the electrodes in OSCs. Light intensity-dependent current densityvoltage (JV) characteristics of OSCs were analyzed to study the effect of recombination on charge collection efficiency. Effect of metal oxide/organic hetero-interfaces on charge transfers at organic/electrode interface was analyzed using transient photocurrent (TPC) measurements. Light intensity-dependent JV characteristics and TPC characteristics were applied to explore the charge recombination dynamics in OSCs with a metal oxide interlayer. This project concentrated on an in-depth investigation of the physics and the interface phenomena such as interfacial exciton dissociation, charge recombination processes, charge collection and interface engineering for high performing OSCs. The fundamentals about light intensity-dependent J-V characteristics for OSCs were summarized. The relationship between the charge recombination dynamics and light intensity-dependent J-V characteristics in OSCs were developed. Light intensity-dependent JSC, VOC and FF in OSCs made with different bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) systems of PTB7:PC70BM, PTB7-Th:PC70BM and PNB4:PC70BM were investigated. It is found that bimolecular recombination is the most prominent factor limiting the performance of OSCs. For freshly made OSCs fabricated based on the commercial polymers, e.g. PTB7 & PTB7-Th, and the new polymer PNB4 synthesized in-house, the trap-assisted charge recombination process in the BHJ active layer plays a relatively small role. This suggests that reducing the bimolecular recombination in OSCs through selecting proper materials and device structures is crucial for enhancing the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of OCSs. In this work, device structures which enable reducing bimolecular recombination in OSCs were investigated. The effect of ZnO interlayer at the interface between BHJ and Al cathode on the performance of PTB7:PC71BM based OSCs was studied by a combination of theoretical simulation and experimental characterization techniques, e.g., using light intensity-dependent JV characteristic and TPC measurements etc. It shows that ZnO interlayer has a profound effect on the performance of the PTB7:PC70BM-based OSCs, although it does not have a significant influence on the maximum absorptance in the active layer. The origin of the improvement in the cell performance is associated with the efficient charge collection due to the favorable exciton dissociation at the electrode/active layer interface. It is shown that the presence of the ZnO interlayer allows using a thinner active layer without moderating the absorption in the optically optimized control OSCs without the ZnO interlayer. OSCs with a ~10 nm thick ZnO interlayer are found to be favorable for the efficient charge collection, and thereby improving the cell performance. The TPC measurements also reveal that the dissociation of excitons at the metal/organic interface of regular OSCs hinders the electron collection. The unfavorable interfacial exciton dissociation can be removed by interposing a ZnO interlayer at the Al/organic interface, thus bimolecular recombination at the electrode/active layer interface can be reduced for improving the charge collection efficiency. PCE of the OSCs using ZnO interlayer was 6.5%, which is about 20% higher than a control cell (5.4%), having an identical device configuration without a ZnO interlayer. Solution-processed anode interlayer, a mixture of solution-processed MoOX and PEDOT:PSS, was adopted for application in inverted PTB7:PC71BM-based OSCs. The ratio of MoOX to PEDOT:PSS in the mixed solution was optimized for achieving the best cell performance. A PCE of 7.4% was obtained for OSCs with an optimal MoOX-PEDOT:PSS based interlayer, interposed between the BHJ active layer and Ag anode, which means 10% enhancement over the PCE of control cell made with an evaporated MoOX interlayer. Light intensity-dependent JV characteristics implied that the bimolecular recombination in OSCs with a MoOX-PEDOT:PSS interlayer was reduced. TPC measurements showed that the favorable exciton dissociation occurs at the organic/MoOX interface for the inverted OSCs. The favorable interfacial exciton dissociation generates an electrical field within a very small space near the interface, contributing significant additional photocurrent when the effective bias across the active layer in the OSCs is low, and thereby assisting in an efficient charge collection at the organic/electrode interface. In addition to the improvement in the cell performance, the solution-processed MoOX-PEDOT:PSS interlayer does not require a post-annealing treatment, which is beneficial for application in solution-processed tandem and flexible OSCs.

Orientadores: Peter Jurgen Tatsch, Stanislav A. Moshkalyov / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T01:24:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nobre_FranciscoDiegoMartins_M.pdf: 7000328 bytes, checksum: ea69e5992c8dcac9e0a9aeab6ccf2ca5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de processos de corrosão de filmes de silício policristalino por plasmas contendo flúor e cloro, para aplicações em dispositivos MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) e MOS (Metal Óxido Semicondutor). A corrosão foi feita em um reator RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) marca Applied Materials, modelo PE8300A. Para aplicação em MEMS foram feitas corrosões de silício policristalino, com perfis anisotrópicos e seletividade maior que 20 para óxido de silício. As misturas gasosas utilizadas na corrosão foram: Ar/SF6 e Ar/SF6/Cl2. Para avaliar melhor a evolução do perfil de corrosão, foram utilizadas amostras com filmes espessos de silício policristalino (>2 µm). Para aplicação em eletrodo de transistores MOS foi feito o afinamento de linhas de 2,5 µm para 500 nm de largura, com perfil vertical (A~0,95). Foi feita uma análise da rugosidade da superfície antes e depois dos processos de corrosão com plasma de Ar/SF6 e Ar/SF6/Cl2. Como máscara utilizaram-se linhas sub-micrométricas de platina, 300 nm de largura, depositas em equipamento FIB, sistema de feixe de íons focalizados. Foram ainda realizados processos de corrosão de dióxido de silício com plasma de misturas de Ar/SF6, objetivando altas taxas de corrosão, e de remoção de máscaras de fotorresiste com plasma de oxigênio. Os processos foram caracterizados com vários equipamentos. Um Perfilômetro foi utilizado para medir as profundidades das corrosões, para a determinação das taxas de corrosão. Um elipsômetro e um interferômetro foram utilizados nas medidas das espessuras e dos índices de refração dos filmes utilizados. Imagens SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) dos filmes corroídos foram feitas para analisar o perfil e determinar o mecanismo de corrosão para cada mistura, e imagens Focused Ion Beam (FIB) para analisar as estruturas sub-micrométricas. / Abstract: This work presents the results and the discussion about mechanisms of plasma etching of polysilicon and silicon films for applications in MEMS and MOS devices. The etching was performed in a conventional reactor of plasma etching, Applied Materials PE8300A model, in a RIE mode (Reactive Ion Etching). For application in MEMS, polysilicon etching with anisotropic profile and high selectivity (>20) for silicon oxide was obtained. The mixtures used in etching were SF6/Ar/Cl2 and SF6/Ar/Cl2. The evolution of the etching profile is better evaluated using polysilicon thick films (>2 µm). For application in MOS transistors electrode, 2,5 µm to 500 nm thinning was obtained with anisotropic profile (At~0,95). For surface routh analisys, before and after the etching processes in Ar/SF6 and Ar/SF6/Cl2 plasmas, sub-micrometric polysilicon lines, with platinum mask deposited by FIB, were etched. Next, silicon dioxide etching processes were executed using Ar/SF6 mixtures in order to obtain high etching rates. Finally, photoresist masks were removed without compromising the adjacent material by the use of oxygen. The films were characterized with the use of a variety of equipment. The Profiler was used to measure the etching depth, and therefore the etching rate was evaluated. / Mestrado / Eletrônica, Microeletrônica e Optoeletrônica / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

Process variability is a major challenge for the design of nano scale MOSFETs due to fundamental physical limits as well as process control limitations. As the size of the devices is scales down to improve performance, the circuit becomes more sensitive to the process variations. Thus, it is necessary to have a device model that can predict the variations of device characteristics. Statistical modeling method is a potential solution for this problem. The novelty of the work is that we connect BSIM parameters directly to the underlying process parameters. This is very useful for fabs to optimize and control the specific processes to achieve certain circuit metric. This methodology and framework is extendable to any future technologies, because we used a device independent, but process depended frame work In the first part of this thesis, presents the design of nominal MOS devices with 28 nm physical gate length. The device is optimized to meet the specification of low standby power technology specification of International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors ITRS(2012). Design of experiments are conducted and the following parameters gate length, oxide thickness, halo concentration, anneal temperature and title angle of halo doping are identified as the critical process parameters. The device performance factors saturation current, sub threshold current, output impendence and transconductance are examined under process variabilty. In the subsequent sections of the thesis, BSIM parameter extraction of MOS devices using the software ICCAP is presented. The variability of the spice parameters due to process variation is extracted. Using the extracted data a new BSIM interpolated model for a variability aware circuit design is proposed assume a single process parameter is varying. The model validation is done and error in ICCAP extraction method for process variability is less than 10% for all process variation condition in 3σ range. In the next section, proposes LUT model and interpolated method for a variability aware circuit design for single parameter variation. The error in LUT method for process variability reports less than 3% for all process variation condition in 3σ range. The error in perdition of drain current and intrinsic gain for LUT model files are very close to the result of device simulation. The focus of the work was to established effective method to interlink process and SPICE parameters under variability. This required generating a large number of BSIM parameter ducks. Since there could be some inaccuracy in large set of BSIM parameters, we used LUT as a golden standard. We used LUT modeling as a benchmark for validation of our BSIM3 model In the final section of thesis, impact of multi parameter variation of the processes in device performance is modelled using RSM method; the model is verified using ANOVA method. Models are found to be sufficient and stable. The reported error is less than 1% in all cases. Monte Carlo simulation confirms stability and repeatability of the model. The model for random variabilty of process parameters are formulated using BSIM and compared with the LUT model. The model was tested using a benchmark circuit. The maximum error in Monte Carlo simulation is found to be less than 3% for output current and less than 8% for output impedance.

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