In recent years a great deal of interest has been focused on the synthesis of transitional metal (e.g. Ag, Cu, Fe, Au) nanosystems at the surface to sub-surface regions of Si and SiO2 matrices for fundamental understanding of their structures as well as for development of technological applications with enhanced electronic and optical properties. The applications of the metal nanoparticle or nanocluster (NC) systems range from plasmonics, photovoltaic devices, medical, and biosensors. In all of these applications; the size, shape and distribution of the metallic NCs in the silicon matrix play a key role. Low energy ion implantation followed by thermal annealing (in vacuum or gas environment) is one of the most suitable methods for synthesis of NCs at near surfaces to buried layers below the surfaces of the substrates. This technique can provide control over depth and concentration of the implanted ions in the host matrix. The implanted low energy metal ions initially amorphizes the Si substrates while being distributed at a shallow depth near the substrate surface. When subject to thermal annealing, the implanted ions agglomerate to form clusters of different sizes at different depths depending upon the fluence. However, for the heavier ions implanted with high fluences (~1×1016 - 1×1017 atoms/cm2), there lies challenges for accurately predicting the distribution of the implanted ions due to sputtering of the surface as well as redistribution of the implants within the host matrix. In this dissertation, we report the investigation of the saturation of the concentration of the implanted ion species in the depth profiles with low energies (< 80 keV) metal ions (Ag and Au) in Si (100), while studying the dynamic changes during the ion implantation. Multiple low energies (30-80 keV) Ag ions with different fluences were sequentially implanted into commercially available Si wafers in order to facilitate the formation of Ag NCs with a wide ion distributions range. The light absorption profile according to different sizes of NCs at the near-surface layers in Si were investigated. We have investigated the formation of Ag NCs in the Si matrix as a function of implantation and thermal annealing parameters. The absorbance of light is increased in Ag implanted Si with a significant increase in the current collection in I-V (current-voltage) photo switching measurements. The experimental photovoltaic cells fabricated with the Ag implanted Si samples were optically characterized under AM (air mass) 1.5 solar radiation conditions (~1.0 kW/m2). An enhancement in the charge collection were measured in the annealed samples, where prominent Ag NCs were formed in the Si matrix compared to the as-implanted samples with the amorphous layer. The characterization techniques such as Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy, XPS-depth profiling, transmission electron microscopy, optical absorption, and I-V (current-voltage) photo switching measurements were employed to understand the underlying science in the observed properties. The results of these investigations are discussed in this research.

Les matériaux à changement de phase montrent la combinaison exceptionnelle d’un contraste énorme dans leurs propriétés physiques entre la phase amorphe et cristalline allié à une cinétique de changement de phase extrêmement rapide. La grande différence en résistivité permet leur application dans les mémoires numériques. De plus, cette classe de matériaux montre dans leur état vitreux des phénomènes de transport électronique caractéristiques. Le seuil de commutation dénote la chute de la résistivité dans l’état amorphe au delà d’un champ électrique critique. Le phénomène de seuil de commutation permet la transition de phase en appliquant des tensions relativement faibles. Au-dessous de cette valeur critique l’état désordonné montre une conductivité d’obscurité activée en température ainsi qu’une résistance - dans les cellules mémoires et les couches minces également – qui augmente avec le temps. Cette évolution de la résistivité amorphe entrave le stockage à plusieurs niveaux, qui offrirait la possibilité d'accroître la capacité ou la densité de stockage considérablement. Comprendre les origines physiques de ces deux phénomènes est crucial pour développer de meilleures mémoires à changement de phase. Bien que ces deux phénomènes soient généralement attribués aux défauts localisés, la connaissance de la distribution de défauts dans les matériaux amorphes à changement de phase est assez limitée. Cette thèse se concentre sur la densité des défauts mesurée dans différents verres chalcogénures présentant l’effet de seuil de commutation. Sur la base d’expériences de photo courant modulé (MPC) et de spectroscopie par déviation photothermique, un modèle sophistiqué des défauts a été développé pour GeTe amorphe (a-GeTe) mettant en évidence les états de la bande de valence et plusieurs défauts. Cette étude sur a-GeTe montre que l’analyse des données MPC peut être grandement améliorée en prenant en compte la variation de la bande de l’énergie interdite avec la température. Afin de mieux appréhender l’évolution de la résistivité amorphe, la présente étude porte sur l’évolution avec les recuits et le vieillissement de la résistivité, de l’énergie d’activation du courant d’obscurité, de la densité des défauts, du stress mécanique, de l'environnement atomique et de l’énergie de la bande interdite mesurée par des méthodes optiques sur les couches minces de a-GeTe. Le recuit d’un échantillon entraîne un élargissement de la bande interdite et de l’énergie d’activation du courant d’obscurité. De plus, la technique MPC a révélé une diminution des défauts profonds dans les couches minces de a-GeTe vieillies. Ces résultats illustrent l’impact de l’annihilation des défauts et de l’élargissement de la bande interdite sur l’évolution de la résistivité des matériaux à changement de phase amorphe. Cette thèse présente également une étude sur les alliages à changement de phase GeSnTe. En augmentant la concentration d’étain, on observe une décroissance systématique de la résistivité amorphe, de l’énergie d’activation du courant d’obscurité, de la largeur de bande interdite et de la densité des défauts, qui conduisent à une résistivité amorphe plus stables dans les compositions riches en étain comme a-Ge2Sn2Te4. L’étude sur les alliages GeSnTe montre que les matériaux à changement de phase ayant une résistivité amorphe plus stable présentent une faible énergie d’activation du courant d’obscurité. À l’exemple du Ge2Sn2Te4 et GeTe la présente étude montre un lien étroit entre l’évolution de la résistivité et la relaxation du stress mécanique. L’étude sur les verres chalcogénures montrent que les matériaux ayant un grand champ d’électrique de seuil, bien connu d’après la littérature, présentent aussi une grande densité de défauts. Ce résultat implique que l’origine du phénomène de seuil de commutation se trouve dans un mécanisme de génération à travers la bande interdite et de recombinaison dans les défauts profonds comme proposé par D. Adler. / Phase change materials combine a pronounced contrast in resistivity and reflectivity between their disordered amorphous and ordered crystalline state with very fast crystallization kinetics. Due to this exceptional combination of properties phase-change materials find broad application in non-volatile optical memories such as CD, DVD or Bluray Disc. Furthermore, this class of materials demonstrates remarkable electrical transport phenomena in their disordered state, which have shown to be crucial for their application in electronic storage devices. The threshold switching phenomenon denotes the sudden decrease in resistivity beyond a critical electrical threshold field. The threshold switching phenomenon facilitates the phase transitions at practical small voltages. Below this threshold the amorphous state resistivity is thermally activated and is observed to increase with time. This effect known as resistance drift seriously hampers the development of multi-level storage devices. Hence, understanding the physical origins of threshold switching and resistance drift phenomena is crucial to improve non-volatile phase-change memories. Even though both phenomena are often attributed to localized defect states in the band gap, the defect state density in amorphous phase-change materials has remained poorly studied. This thesis presents defects state densities measured on different amorphous phase-change materials and chalcogenides showing electrical threshold switching. On the basis of Modulated Photo Current (MPC) Experiments and Photothermal Spectroscopy a sophisticated band model for a-GeTe has been developed, which is shown to consist of defect bands and band tail states. This study on a-GeTe has shown that the data analysis within MPC experiments can be drastically improved by taking the temperature dependence of the optical band gap into account. To get a better understanding of resistance drift phenomena this study focuses on the evolution of resistivity on heating and ageing, activation energy of electronic conduction, optical band gap, defect state density, mechanical stress and nearest neighbour ordering in a-GeTe thin films. After heating the samples one hour at 140°C the activation energy for electric conduction increases by 30 meV, while the optical band gap increases by 60 meV. Additionally, MPC experiments revealed a decreasing concentration of mid gap states in aged a-GeTe thin films. These findings demonstrate the impact of band gap opening and defect annihilation on resistance drift. Furthermore, the stoichiometric dependence of resistance drift phenomena in a-GeSnTe phase-change alloys is studied in this thesis. A systematic decrease in the amorphous state resistivity, activation energy for electric conduction, optical band gap and defect density is observed with increasing tin content resulting in a low resistance drift for tin rich compositions such as a-Ge2Sn2Te4. This study on GeSnTe systems demonstrates, that phase change alloys showing a more stable amorphous state resistivity are characterized by a low activation energy of electronic conduction. This finding found in GeSnTe alloys holds also true for GeSbTe and AgInSbTe systems. On the example of a-Ge2Sn2Te4 and a-GeTe exhibiting a strong resistance drift, the evolution of the amorphous state resistivity is shown to be closely linked to the relaxation of internal mechanical stresses resulting in an improving structural ordering of the amorphous phase. For the investigated alloys showing electrical switching, the measured density of midgap states is observed to decreases with decreasing threshold field known from literature. This result favours a generation-recombination model behind electrical switching in amorphous chalcogenides as originally proposed by Adler.

In this work, homojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HIWIP) detectors based on GaAs, and heterojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HEIWIP) detectors based mainly on the Gallium Arsenide/Aluminum Gallium Arsenide material system are presented. Design principles of HIWIP and HEIWIP detectors, such as free carrier absorption, photocarrier generation, photoemission, and responsivity, are discussed in detail. Results of p-type HIWIPs based on GaAs material are presented. Homojunction detectors based on p-type GaAs were found to limit their operating wavelength range. This is mainly due to band depletion arising through carrier transitions from the heavy/light hole bands to the split off band. Designing n-type GaAs HIWIP detectors is difficult as it is strenuous to control their workfunction. Heterojunction detectors based on Gallium Arsenide/Aluminum Gallium Arsenide material system will allow tuning their threshold wavelength by adjusting the alloy composition of the Aluminum Gallium Arsenide/Gallium Arsenide barrier, while keeping a fixed doping density in the emitter. The detectors covered in this work operate from 1 to 128 micron (300 to 2.3 THz). Enhancement of detector response using resonance cavity architecture is demonstrated. Threshold wavelength extension of HEIWIPs by varying the Al composition of the barrier was investigated. The threshold limit of approximately 3.3 THz (92 micron), due to a practical Al fraction limit of approximately 0.005, can be overcome by replacing GaAs emitters in Gallium Arsenide/Aluminum Gallium Arsenide HEIWIPs with Aluminum Gallium Arsenide/Gallium Arsenide emitters. As the initial step, terahertz absorption for 1 micron-thick Be-doped Aluminum Gallium Arsenide epilayers (with different Al fraction and doping density) grown on GaAs substrates was measured. The absorption probability of the epilayers was derived from these absorption measurements. Based on the terahertz absorption results, an Aluminum Gallium Arsenide/Gallium Arsenide HEIWIP detector was designed and the extension of threshold frequency (f0) to 2.3 THz was successfully demonstrated. In a different study, switching in Gallium Arsenide/Aluminum Gallium Arsenide heterostructures from a tunneling dominated low conductance branch to a thermal emission dominated high conductance branch was investigated. This bistability leads to neuron-like voltage pulses observed in some heterostructure devices. The bias field that initiates the switching was determined from an iterative method that uses feedback information, such as carrier drift velocity and electron temperature, from hot carrier transport. The bias voltage needed to switch the device was found to decrease with the increasing device temperature.