Power converters used in high reliability radiation hardened space applications trail their commercial counterparts in terms of power density and efficiency. This is due to the additional challenges that arise in the design of space rated power converters from the harsh environment they need to operate in, to the limited availability of space qualified components and field demonstrated power converter topologies. New radiation hardened Gallium Nitride (GaN) Field Effect Transistors (FETs) with their inherent radiation tolerance and superior performance over Silicon Power Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) are a promising alternative to improve power density and performance in space power converters. This thesis presents the considerations and design of a practical implementation of the Phase Shifted Full Bridge DC-DC Isolated converter with synchronous rectification for space applications. Recently released radiation hardened GaN FETs were used in the Full Bridge and synchronous rectifier power stages. A survey outlining the benefits of new radiation hardened GaN FETs for space power applications compared to current radiation hardened power MOSFETs is included. In addition, this work presents the overall design process followed to design the DC-DC converter power stage, as well as a comprehensive power loss analysis. Furthermore, this work includes details to implement a conventional hard-switched Full Bridge DC-DC converter for this application. An efficiency and component stress comparison was performed between the hard-switched Full Bridge design and the Phase Shifted Full Bridge DC-DC converter design. This comparison highlights the benefits of phase shift modulation (PSM) and zero voltage switching (ZVS) for GaN FET applications. Furthermore, different magnetic designs were characterized and compared for efficiency in both converters. The DC-DC converters implemented in this work regulate the output to a nominal 20 V, delivering 500 W from a nominal 100 V DC Bus input. Complete fault analysis and protection circuitry required for a space-qualified implementation is not addressed by this work. / MS / Recently released radiation-hardened Gallium Nitride (GaN) Field Effect Transistors (FETs) offer the opportunity to increase efficiency and power density of space DC-DC power converters. The current state of the art for space DC-DC power conversion trails their commercial counterparts in terms of power density and efficiency. This is mainly due to two factors. The first factor is related to the additional challenges that arise in the design of space rated power converters from the harsh environment they need to operate in, to the limited availability of space qualified components and field demonstrated converter topologies. The second factor lies in producing reliable radiation hardened power Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs). GaN FETs not only have better electrical performance than power MOSFETs, they have also demonstrated inherent tolerance to radiation. This results in less structural device changes needed to make GaN FETs operate reliably under high radiation compared to their MOSFETs counterparts. This work outlines the design implications of using newly released radiation hardened GaN FETs to implement a fixed frequency isolated Phase Shifted Full Bridge DC-DC converter while strictly abiding to the design constraints found in space-power converter applications. In addition, a one-to-one performance comparison was made between the soft-switched Phase Shift modulated Full Bridge and the conventional hard-switched Full Bridge DC-DC converter. Finally, different magnetic designs were evaluated in the laboratory to assess their impact on converter efficiency.

Motivated by the recent commercialization of gallium-nitride (GaN) switches, an effort was initiated to determine whether it was feasible to switch the flyback converter at 5 MHz in order to improve the power density of this versatile isolated topology. Soft switching techniques have to be utilized to eliminate the switching loss to maintain high efficiency at multi-megahertz. Compared to the traditional modeling of zero-voltage-switching quasi-square-wave converters, a numerical methodology of parameters design is proposed based on the steady-state model of zero-voltage switching quasi-square-wave flyback converter. The magnetizing inductance is selected to guarantee zero-voltage switching for the entire input and load range with the trade-off design for conduction loss and turn-off loss. A design methodology is introduced to select a minimum core volume for an inductor or coupled inductors experiencing appreciable core loss. The geometric constant Kgac = MLT/(Ac2WA) is shown to be a power function of the core volume Ve, where Ac is the effective core area, WA is the area of the winding window, and MLT is the mean length per turn for commercial toroidal, ER, and PQ cores, permitting the total loss to be expressed as a direct function of the core volume. The inductor is designed to meet specific loss or thermal constraints. An iterative procedure is described in which two- or three-dimensional proximity effects are first neglected and then subsequently incorporated via finite-element simulation. Interleaved and non-interleaved planar PCB winding structures were also evaluated to minimize leakage inductance, self-capacitance and winding loss. The analysis on the trade-off between magnetic size, frequency, loss and temperature indicated the potential for a higher density flyback converter. A small-signal equivalent circuit of QSW converter was proposed to design the control loop and to understand the small-signal behavior. By adding a simple damping resistor on the traditional small-signal CCM model, it can predict the pole splitting phenomenon observed in QSW converter. With the analytical expressions of the transfer functions of QSW converters, the impact of key parameters including magnetizing inductance, dead time, input voltage and output power on the small-signal behavior can be analyzed. The closed-loop bandwidth can be pushed much higher with this modified model, and the transient performance is significantly improved. With the traditional fix dead-time control, a large amount of loss during dead time occurred, especially for the eGaN FETs with high reverse voltage drop. An adaptive dead time control scheme was implemented with simple combinational logic circuitries to adjust the turn on time of the power switches. A variable deadtime control was proposed to further improve the performance of adaptive dead-time control with simplified sensing circuit, and the extra conduction loss caused by propagation delay in adaptive dead-time control can be minimized at multi-megahertz frequency. / Ph. D. / With the fast development of telecom, computer and network systems, high efficient and small volume power supplies are highly desired. A typical method for achieving high power density involves increasing the frequency and implement soft-switching techniques to minimize loss. Thanks to the recent commercialization of the advanced semiconductor gallium-nitride (GaN) switches, it is feasible to design high density power supplies and cost effective power system. Several challenges including optimization of power converter, high frequency magnetics and implementation of control architecture have been addressed in this dissertation which helps to realize this compact power system. With the implementation of proposed circuit model and seminumerical design procedures for magnetics, a 30W high-frequency isolated DC/DC converter with planar inductor is fabricated to verify the theoretical analysis, which also demonstrates much improved performances.

Das Wachstum von monolagen dünnen Schichten von InN und GaN/InN auf ZnO wurde untersucht. Ebenso der Einfluss der Verspannung, welche durch das Substrat bedingt ist, auf den Indiumgehalt von (In, Ga)N Heterostrukturen, welche auf GaN und ZnO gewachsen wurden. Alle Proben wurden mittels Molekularstrahlepitaxy gewachsen. Es wurde eine Prozedur entwickelt zum Glühen von ZnO Substraten, um glatte Oberflächen mit Stufenfluss-Morphologie zu erhalten, welche sich für das Wachstum von monolage-dünnen Heterostrukturen eignen. Solche Zn-ZnO und O-ZnO Oberflächen konnten produziert werden, wenn die Proben bei 1050 °C in einer O2 Atmosphäre bei 1 bar für eine Stunde geglüht wurden. Reflection high energy electron diffraction wurde eingesetzt, um in situ den Wachstumsmodus und die Entwicklung des a-Gitterabstandes zu untersuchen. Die kritische Schichtdicke, ab welcher ein Übergang im Wachstumsmodus von glattem zu rauhem Wachstum statt findet, war für das Wachstum von InN auf ZnO geringer als 2 ML und setzt gemeinsam mit dem Beginn der Relaxation ein. Für das Wachstum von GaN auf monolagen-dünnem InN/ZnO konnte gezeigt werden, dass höchstens wenige ML abgeschieden werden können, bevor Relaxation eintritt und/oder eine Vermischung zu (In, Ga)N stattfindet. Untersuchungen durch Röntgenbeugung und Raman Spektroskopie geben Hinweise darauf, dass das Abscheidung der nominalen Struktur 100x(1 ML InN/2 MLs GaN) vermutlich zum Wachstum von (In, Ga)N führte. Die chemische Zusammensetzung war für alle Proben sehr ähnlich mit einem indium Gehält von etwa x: 0.36 und einem Relaxationsgrad von 65% - 73% für Proben, die auf ZnO gewachsen wurde und 95% für Wachstum auf 300 nm In0.19Ga0.81N/GaN. Ein unbeabsichtigter Unterschied im V/III-Verhältnis während des Wachstums von (In, Ga)N Heterostrukturen, auf welchen die Anwesenheit von Metalltröpchen auf manchen Proben hinwies, lies auf einen möglichen Einfluss auf das Relaxationsverhalten und die Oberflächenrauhigkeit schließen. / Several thin InN and GaN/InN films and (In, Ga)N heterostructures were grown using molecular beam epitaxy to investigate their growth mode. InN and GaN/InN films were grown on ZnO substrates and (In, Ga)N heterostructures were grown on (In, Ga)N buffers and ZnO substrates. Fabricating the heterostructures on two different types of substrates was a means of strain engineering to possibly increase the indium content in the (In, Ga)N layers. An annealing procedure was established to treat ZnO substrate to gain smooth, stepped surfaces suitable for ML thin heterostructure devices. Reflection high energy electron diffraction was used to investigate in situ the growth mechanism and evolution of the a-lattice spacing. The critical layer thickness for growth mode transition of InN from smooth to rough is below 2 MLs and fairly coincides with the onset of main relaxation. The deposition of GaN on ML thin InN/ZnO shows that at best a few MLs can be deposited before relaxation and/or intermixing into (In, GaN) takes place. Investigations by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy indicate that the deposition of a nominal structure of 100x(1 ML InN/2 MLs GaN) seems to result in the growth of (In, Ga)N instead. The average chemical composition was similar for all samples with an indium content close to x: 0.36 and a degree of relaxation between 65%-73% for samples grown on ZnO and 95% for the sample grown on 300 nm In0.19Ga0.81N/GaN pseudo-substrate. The surface was probed with atomic force microscopy and showed that starting with smooth surfaces with root mean square roughness around 0.2 nm there was a considerable roughening during growth and surfaces with grain like morphology and a roughness around 2 to 3 nm was produced. Unintentional differences in V/III ratio during growth of (In, Ga)N heterostructures, indicated by the presence of droplets on some of the sample surfaces, were possible, impacting on the sample relaxation behavior and the surface roughness.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Hongxing Jiang / The optical and structural properties of Er-doped GaN/InGaN materials and devices synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) were investigated. Er-doped GaN via MOCVD emits a strong photoluminescence (PL) emission at 1.54 um using both above and below-bandgap excitation. In contrast to other growth methods, MOCVD-grown Er-doped GaN epilayers exhibit virtually no visible emission lines. A small thermal quenching effect, with only a 20% decrease in the integrated intensity of the 1.54 um PL emission, occurred between 10 and 300 K. The dominant bandedge emission of Er-doped GaN at 3.23 eV was observed at room temperature, which is red-shifted by 0.19 eV from the bandedge emission of undoped GaN. An activation energy of 191 meV was obtained from the thermal quenching of the integrated intensity of the 1.54 um emission line. It was observed that surface morphology and 1.54 um PL emission intensity was strongly dependent upon the Er/NH3 flow rate ratio and the growth temperature. XRD measurements showed that the crystalline ordering of the (002) plane was relatively unperturbed for the changing growth environment. Least-squares fitting of 1.54 um PL measurements from Er-doped GaN of different growth temperatures was utilized to determine a formation energy of 1.82 ± 0.1 eV for the Er-emitting centers. The crystalline quality and surface morphology of Er-doped InGaN (5% In fraction) was nearly identical to that of Er-doped GaN, yet the PL intensity of the 1.54 um emission from Er-doped InGaN (5% In fraction) was 16 x smaller than that of Er-doped GaN. The drop in PL intensity is attributed to the much lower growth temperature in conjunction with the high formation energy of the Er- emitting centers. Er-doped InGaN grown at fixed growth temperature with different growth pressures, NH3 flow rates, and Ga flow rates was also investigated, and showed that increased In fractions also resulted in a smaller 1.54 um PL intensity. Er-doped InGaN p-i-n diodes were synthesized and tested. The electroluminescence (EL) spectra under forward bias shows strong Er based emission in the infrared and visible region. The different emission lines from EL spectra in contrast to PL spectra implies different excitation methods for the Er based emission in the p-i-n diode than in the PL excited epilayer.

Wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium-nitride (GaN) allow higher voltage ratings, lower on-state voltage drops, higher switching frequencies, and higher maximum temperatures. All these advantages make them an attractive choice when high-power density and high-efficiency converters are targeted. Two different gate-driver designs for SiC power devices are presented. First, a dual-function gate-driver for a power module populated with SiC junction field-effect transistors that finds a trade-off between fast switching speeds and a low oscillative performance has been presented and experimentally verified. Second, a gate-driver for SiC metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors with a short-circuit protection scheme that is able to protect the converter against short-circuit conditions without compromising the switching performance during normal operation is presented and experimentally validated. The benefits and issues of using parallel-connection as the design strategy for high-efficiency and high-power converters have been presented. In order to evaluate parallel connection, a 312 kVA three-phase SiC inverter with an efficiency of 99.3 % has been designed, built, and experimentally verified. If parallel connection is chosen as design direction, an undesired trade-off between reliability and efficiency is introduced. A reliability analysis has been performed, which has shown that the gate-source voltage stress determines the reliability of the entire system. Decreasing the positive gate-source voltage could increase the reliability without significantly affecting the efficiency. If high-temperature applications are considered, relatively little attention has been paid to passive components for harsh environments. This thesis also addresses high-temperature operation. The high-temperature performance of two different designs of inductors have been tested up to 600_C. Finally, a GaN power field-effect transistor was characterized down to cryogenic temperatures. An 85 % reduction of the on-state resistance was measured at −195_C. Finally, an experimental evaluation of a 1 kW singlephase inverter at low temperatures was performed. A 33 % reduction in losses compared to room temperature was achieved at rated power. / <p>QC 20160922</p>

Experimental investigations of the optical properties of GaN nanostructured light emitting diode (LED) arrays are presented. Microphotoluminescence spectroscopy with pulsed and continuous wave lasers was used to probe the carrier dynamics and emission mechanisms of nanorod LED arrays fabricated by a top down etching method. Results show a possible reduction in internal electric field as nanorod diameter decreases. Localisation effects were also observed, affecting the spectral shape of the nanorod emission. Under two-photon excitation, quantum dot-like sharp spectral peaks in the PL spectra are found to exist in abundance amongst all the nanorod samples. The optical properties of these localised states, which are shown to be associated with the nanorod free-surfaces, are characterised using non-linear and time resolved spectroscopy. An investigation into spatially resolved single nanorods was also carried out. Single nanorods were isolated, and characterised using pulsed lasers. The etching is shown to increase the carrier decay life-time at extended intervals over several hundred ns. The temporal evolution and excitation power density dependence of the quantum dot-like states are also presented for the first time. The long lived localised states are thought to arise from surface effects, in particular Fermi-surface pinning, causing localisation and spatial separation of carriers. Additional work on nano-pyramid array LEDs, with quantum wells on semi-polar surfaces is also presented. Optical properties using micro-photoluminescence are compared to cathodoluminescence studies. An uneven distribution of emission wavelengths across the pyramid facet is thought to lead to an emission mechanism involving carriers transferring between multiple spatially localised states. Finally, experimental techniques and fabrication methods for future work are documented in detail.

Neste trabalho estudamos as propriedades físicas das impurezas de elementos de terra rara (TR) nos cristais de GaN, nas estruturas cristalinas zincblenda e wurtzita, e de ZnO. Para tal, consideramos as impurezas de Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er e Tm substitucionais no sítio do cátion (Ga ou Zn), pois esta posição é mais estável do que no sítio do ânion (N ou O). As investigações foram efetuadas através de simulações computacionais baseadas em métodos de primeiros princípios dentro do formalismo da teoria do funcional da densidade e utilizando o método FP-LAPW (Full Potential Linear Augmented Plane Waves), implementado no código computacional WIEN2k, dentro do esquema de supercélula, com relaxações atômicas tratadas de modo apropriado. No tratamento dos estados de valência 3d (Ga ou Zn) e 4f dos átomos de TR foi introduzida uma correção local de Hubbard, para levar em conta efeitos de alta correlação eletrônica. Inicialmente, estudamos as propriedades eletrônicas e estruturais dos elementos de TR em suas fases metálicas. Estes resultados serviram para validar a metodologia de obtenção dos valores dos parâmetros U de Hubbard de modo autoconsistente, pois para este grupo de materiais existem resultados experimentais. Comparando a localização e o desdobramento entre os estados ocupados e desocupados relacionados aos orbitais 4f, em relação ao nível de Fermi dos sistemas, obteve-se uma ótima concordância. Nossos resultados para os sistemas dopados, utilizando a correção do potencial U de Hubbard, mostram que a suas descrições estão adequadas. Somente com a introdução da correção é possível localizar corretamente, em relação ao topo da banda de valência, os estados ocupados e desocupados relacionados aos orbitais 4f. Estes resultados estão de acordo com esquemas propostos na literatura, mostrando que o estado de oxidação das impurezas de TR é trivalente e que, em geral, em ambos sistemas cristalinos, não há a introdução de níveis de energia na região do gap dos materiais. Nosso estudo da correção do potencial U de Hubbard, obtido autoconsistemente, na teoria do funcional da densidade, mostra que seus valores não são universais, dependendo do estado de carga e do ambiente em que o átomo está inserido. Mais ainda, mostra que o procedimento adotado é totalmente apropriado para descrever a correlação eletrônica dos elétrons 4f. / In this work we studied the physical properties of rare earth (RE) impurities in GaN, in the zincblend and the wurtzite crystal structures, and in ZnO. Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er and Tm substitutional impurities in the cation site (Ga or Zn) were considered, since this position is more stable than anion site (N or O). The investigations were carried out by computational simulations using ab initio methods, based on the density functional theory and the FP-LAPW (Full Potential Linear Augmented Plane Waves) method, as implemented in the WIEN2k code, considering the supercell approach and atomic relaxations. The 3d-Ga or 3d-Zn and the 4f-RE valence states were treated with the introduction of on-site Hubbard correction, in order to correctly describe the strongly correlated electrons. First, the electronic and structural properties of RE metallic systems were investigated and the results were compared with available experimental data, showing a good agreement. Those results helped to identify the appropriate procedure to compute the Hubbard U potential. This procedure should also provide a reliable description about the electronic properties of RE elements as impurities in semiconductors. Then, we have computed the properties of substitutional RE impurities in the cation site using the same methodology and procedures. The Hubbard U potential was necessary to correctly describe the position of the 4f occupied and unoccupied states, related to the valence band top. These results are in agreement with proposed electronic properties of RE doped GaN and ZnO found in the literature. The RE impurities oxidation states are in general trivalent in both crystal systems and introduce no energy levels in the gap region. Our Hubbard U potential correction, obtained in a self-consistent way, depends on the considered element and the neighborhood, and it is not an universal parameter. Moreover, our investigation shows that the adopted procedure is totally appropriate to describe the electronic correlation of the 4f electrons.

Les nitrures d’éléments III, à savoir GaN, InN, AlN et leurs alliages, forment une famille de matériaux semi-conducteurs dont les propriétés sont particulièrement intéressantes pour la réalisation de diodes électroluminescentes (LEDs). Leur intérêt réside en particulier dans leur bande interdite qui est directe et qui couvre une large bande spectrale de l’infrarouge (0,65eV pour InN) à l’ultraviolet (6,2eV pour AlN). En raison de l’absence de substrats accordés en maille avec ces matériaux, les couches minces hétéroépitaxiées de nitrure sont généralement touchées par des problèmes de qualité cristalline. Grâce au phénomène de relaxation des contraintes en surface, les nanofils offrent une solution prometteuse pour résoudre ce problème. Ils combinent de nombreux autres avantages : en comparaison des couches minces, l’efficacité quantique interne des LEDs peut être améliorée (surface effective plus importante permettant de diminuer l’effet Auger à courant injecté identique, absence de champ de polarisation en utilisant les facettes non polaires des nanofils) et l’extraction des photons est facilitée par l’effet guide d’onde des nanofils. Cependant, une des difficultés est de parvenir à contrôler la synthèse de ces nano-objets pour garantir une homogénéité des propriétés structurales d’un fil à l’autre et au sein d’un même fil. Dans ce contexte, mon travail de thèse a consisté à étudier d’un point de vue expérimental et théorique l’impact des inhomogénéités structurales sur les propriétés optoélectroniques de dispositifs à nanofils de type LED. J’ai pu mettre en évidence et modéliser un effet de concentration du courant dans les régions riches en indium lorsque les courants injectés sont modérés. Pour de forts courants, le courant se concentre à proximité du contact sur la coquille dopée p. Théoriquement, j’ai montré que la dérive des porteurs de charge dans les puits quantiques et leur diffusion unipolaire et ambipolaire en présence d’un gradient de compositions des puits étaient négligeables. Par ailleurs, je me suis également intéressé à l’interprétation des caractéristiques courant-tension. A l’aide d’un modèle simple, j’ai également identifié la présence de courant de fuite par effet tunnel dans des structures présentant une densité importante de défaut. Dans une seconde partie de ma thèse, je me suis également intéressé à la caractérisation de nanofils à structure coeur-coquille par la technique de courant induit par faisceau d’électrons (Electron Beam Induced Current). La dépendance des cartographies EBIC en fonction de la tension appliquée et de l’énergie du faisceau incident a été modélisée. Ce travail m’a notamment amené à proposer une nouvelle méthode de caractérisation permettant de cartographier les résistivités du coeur et de la coquille des nanofils. / III-nitrides i.e. GaN, InN, AlN and their alloys are semiconductors of choice to fabricate optoelectronic devices such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). One of their most interesting features relies in their direct band gap that covers a very wide spectral range, from infrared (0.65 eV for InN) to UV (6.2 eV for AlN). However, the lack of lattice-matched substrate has been responsible for strong crystalline quality issues in heteroepitaxial thin films. Thanks to stress relaxation at their surface, nanowires provide a smart solution to this problem. Besides, they have a few more assets. In comparison to thin films, nanowires can improve the internal quantum efficiency of LEDs because of their higher effective surface that leads to lowered current densities and thus mitigated Auger effect. The internal quantum efficiency also benefits from the possibility to grow the active region on non polar facets, thus getting rid of the detrimental high internal polarization-induced electric field in quantum wells. Furthermore, the photon extraction efficiency is enhanced by the guiding effect of nanowires. However, despite all this promising advantages, one of the main challenges remains the control of structural homogeneity from wire to wire but also inside single wires.In this context, my work has consisted into studying from an experimental and theoretical point of view the consequences of these structural inhomogeneities on the optoelectronic properties of nanowire based LED devices. I have shown that the current tends to gather into indium-rich regions for moderate bias. At higher bias, the dominant current path though the junction is generally located under the p-contact on the nanowire shell. I have theoretically demonstrated that the unipolar and ambipolar diffusion of carriers as well as their drift induced by a composition gradient inside the quantum wells is not significant in the devices I have studied. Moreover, I took also an interest in the detailed analyze of I-V curves. Thanks to a simple model, I have identified the presence of leakage current related to defect- and phonon-assisted tunneling effect. In the second part of my work, I have focused onto the characterization of core-shell wires using the Electron Beam Induced Current technique. The bias-dependant and acceleration voltage-dependant EBIC maps has been explained with a theoretical model based on equivalent circuits. This study leads me to suggest a new experimental method that can be used to map the nanowire core and shell resistivity.

Ces travaux de thèse portent sur les phénomènes d’amplification du signal de diffusion Raman par effet de surface et par effet de pointe. Des réseaux de motifs métalliques de taille nanométrique arrangés spatialement ont été fabriqués par la méthode de transfert Langmuir-Blodgett et par lithographie à faisceau d’électrons. De telles structures de géométries contrôlées déposées à la surface de lamelles de microscope ont été développées afin d’amplifier le signal Raman de molécules adsorbées par effet SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy). Ces nanostructures triangulaires en or de taille proche de la longueur d’onde ont des bandes de résonance plasmon dans le domaine spectral visible. En utilisant une source de laser appropriée dans ce domaine spectral, les facteurs d’amplification Raman d’une couche mono-moléculaire d’un dérivé azobenzène sont de plusieurs ordres de grandeur, et ce pour les deux techniques de nano-lithographie employées. Afin de compléter ces premiers résultats, des réseaux de fils d’or avec de grands facteurs de forme ont été fabriqués. Ces derniers montrent des résonances plasmons multipolaires et des facteurs d’amplification de l’ordre de 105. Les techniques de microscopie en champ proche ont également été développées afin de localiser précisément l’exaltation Raman et d’accroitre la résolution spatiale de mesures Raman. Des pointes métalliques en or de taille nanométrique ont ainsi permis d’amplifier localement le signal de diffusion de molécules placées à leur proximité par effet TERS (Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy). Les développements logiciels et mécaniques entre un microscope confocal Raman et un microscope à force atomique ont été implémentés afin de contrôler simultanément les deux instruments. Ce montage expérimental a été appliqué à l’étude de nanofils semi-conducteurs de nitrure de gallium permettant de suivre leur signal vibrationnel avec une résolution spatiale inférieure à 200 nm. / This thesis work focuses on Raman scattering enhancements by metallic nanostructures. In the first part of this work, arrays of metallic patterns with nanometer dimensions were fabricated by the Langmuir-Blodgett deposition technique and electron-beam lithography. Such structures made of gold were fabricated onto microscope slides with the goal to enhance the Raman signal through SERS effect (Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy). These patterns formed by an assembly of triangular nanostructures with sizes of hundreds of nanometers, exhibit plasmon resonance bands in the visible spectral region. By using an appropriate excitation laser source with respect to the plasmon frequency, Raman enhancement factors of a monolayer were found to be of several order of magnitude for both Langmuir-Blodgett and electron-beam lithography platforms. To further complement these results, gold wires arrays with large aspect ratio made by electron-beam lithography showed multipolar plasmon resonances with enhancement factors up to 105. In the second part of this thesis, near-field Raman microscopy has been developed with the aim to localize precisely the Raman enhancement and improve spatial resolution of Raman measurements. Atomic force microscopy gold tips have been used to locally enhance scattering signal of molecules in close proximity to the tip opening new opportunities. This approach known as TERS (Tip Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy) is of significant interest to probe nanomaterials, nanostructures or monolayers. Software and mechanical developments have been made between a confocal Raman microscope and an atomic force microscope to control simultaneously both instruments. This experimental setup was used to characterize gallium nitride semi-conductors nanowires with spatial resolution better than 200 nm.

This thesis investigates the possibility of enhancing the efficiency of thin film solar cells by including periodic material nonhomogeneities in combination with periodically corrugated back reflectors. Two different types of solar cell are investigated; p-i-n junctions solar cells made from alloys of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) (containing either carbon or germanium), and Schottky barrier junction solar cells made from alloys of indium gallium nitride (InξGa1-ξN). Material nonhomogeneities are produced by varying the fractions of the constituent elements of the alloys. For example, by varying the content of carbon or germanium in the a-Si:H alloys, semiconductors with bandgaps ranging from 1:3 eV to 1:95 eV can be produced. Changing the bandgap alters both the optical and electrical properties of the material so this necessitates the use of coupled optical and electrical models. To date, the majority of solar cell simulations either prioritise the electrical portion of the simulation or they prioritise the optical portion of the simulation. In this thesis, a coupled optoelectronic model, developed using COMSOL Multiphysics®, was used to simulate solar cells: a two-dimensional finite-element optical model, which solved Maxwell's equations throughout the solar cells, was used to calculate the absorption of incident sunlight; and a finite-element electrical drift-diffusion transport model, either one- or two-dimensional depending on the symmetries of the problem, was used to calculate the steady state current densities throughout the solar cells under external voltage biases. It is shown that a periodically corrugated back reflector made from silver can increase efficiency of an a-Si:H alloy single p-i-n junction solar cell by 9:9% compared to a baseline design, while for a triple junction the improvement is a relatively meagre 1:8%. It is subsequently shown that the efficiency of these single p-i-n junction solar cells with a back reflector can be further increased by the inclusion of material nonhomogeneities, and that increasing the nonhomogeneity progressively increases efficiency, especially in thicker solar cells. In the case of InξGa1-ξN Schottky barrier junction solar cells, the gains are shown to be even greater. An overall increase in efficiency of up to 26:8% over a baseline design is reported.