Com o intuito de melhorar a eficiência dos dispositivos emissores de luz poliméricos uma das técnicas utilizadas é o confinamento da conjugação, diminuindo as perdas de energia em sítios de extinção, como fins de cadeia, defeitos ou armadilhas. Além disso, o confinamento quântico permite o controle do comprimento de onda emissivo desses materiais. Um dos mecanismos para o confinamento é a copolimerização, por meio da qual bloco conjugados são inseridos como grupos laterais na cadeia principal ou espaçadores nãoconjugados são inseridos ao longo da cadeia principal conjugada, limitando o comprimento da conjugação. O presente trabalho visou sintetizar e estudar as propriedades de copolímeros estatísticos derivados do PPV contendo segmentos com diferentes graus de conjugação distribuídos aleatoriamente na cadeia e limitados por segmentos não conjugados, e o estudo do comportamento desses materiais como camada ativa em dispositivos emissores de luz (PLEDs). Para a obtenção dos copolímeros randômicos poli[bis-(fenilenovinileno)-stat-(1,8-bis- (2,6-dioximetano-1,4- fenilenovinileno)-dioxioctano)-1,4-fenileno) (RBPV-DODM-PPV) utilizou-se a rota de Wittig, a partir dos monômeros: tereftaldeído (um dialdeído completamente conjugado), 1,8 bis (4 formil 2,6 dimetoxifenoxi) octano (um dialdeído interespaçado por uma cadeia saturada de oitometilenos) e o dicloreto de 1,4 bis (trifenilfosfôniometil) benzeno. Três razões molares x:y dos monômeros dialdeídos foram utilizadas para sintetizar os polímeros randômicos, obtendo-se diferentes proporções e tamanhos de segmentos conjugados distribuídos aleatoriamente nas cadeias poliméricas. Os materiais foram caracterizados por espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear (RMN), no infravermelho, UV-visível, e fluorescência. A técnica de GPC foi utilizada para obtenção das massas moleculares e medidas de Tg foram realizadas por meio de DSC. As propriedades físico-químicas desses materiais foram analisadas em função das razões molares x:y utilizadas nas sínteses. E um estudo estatístico foi realizado para verificar as probabilidades de distribuição dos diferentes segmentos conjugados ao longo da cadeia em função dessas razões. Um estudo da morfologia e espessura dos filmes poliméricos em função dos parâmetros de deposição foi realizado a fim de descobrir as melhores condições para se obter filmes homogêneos e com espessuras da ordem de 20 a 60nm, necessários para alcançar melhores eficiências nos diodos emissores de luz poliméricos (PLEDs). Para a fabricação dos PLEDs foram utilizados ITO e Al como anodo e catodo, respectivamente, e uma camada de 20nm do polímero estatístico como matriz ativa e eletroluminescente. Para facilitar o transporte de portadores de cargas, camadas de PEDOT:PSS e BPBD foram colocadas entre o filme polimérico e os eletrodos. Também foram realizados testes com filmes da molécula Alq-3 como camada transportador-injetora de elétrons. Os dispositivos apresentaram eletroluminescência EL em quase toda a faixa do espectro visível, com máximos na região do ciano, para o copolímero R55 e na região do verde, para o copolímero p37. Baseado no mecanismo de Forster de transferência de energia, concluímos que os filmes desses polímeros estatísticos comportam-se como sistema hospedeiro-hóspede, devido a sobreposição parcial dos espectros de absorção e emissão dos polímeros, ocorrendo a transferência dos excitons-singletos dos segmentos de maior gap para os de menor gap, e, assim, o deslocamento dos centros emissivos para o vermelho e o aumento da eficiência dos dispositivos. / In order to improve the efficiency of polymeric light-emitting devices one of the techniques used is the conjugation confinement, decreasing the losses of energy in quenching sites, such as chain ends, defects or impurities. Moreover, the quantum confinement allows control the emissive wavelength of these materials. One of the confinement mechanisms is the copolymerization, which conjugated blocks are inserted as side groups in the main chain or non-conjugated spacers are inserted along the conjugated main chain, limiting the conjugation length. This study aimed synthesize and study the properties of random copolymers containing segments with different conjugation degrees randomly distributed in the chain and limited by no conjugated segments, and the study of the behaviour of these materials as active layer in a light emitting devices (PLEDs). To obtain random copolymers of poly [bis (fenilenovinileno)-stat-(1,8-bis-(2,6-dioximetano- 1, 4 - fenilenovinileno)-dioxioctano) -1,4-phenylene) (RBPV-DODM - PPV) have been used the Wittig route, from monomers: terephtaldeyde (a dialdeyde completely conjugated), 1.8 - bis (4 - formyl - 2.6 - dimethoxiphenoxi) octane (a dialdeyde interspaced by a saturated chain of eight methylene) and dichloride of 1.4 - a (triphenylphosphoniomethil) benzene. Three molars reasons x: y of dialdeydes monomers were used to synthesize the random polymers, obtaining various proportions and sizes of conjugated segments randomly distributed in the polymer chains. Infrared (IR) and ultravioletvisible (UVvis)spectroscopies, hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) were used to characterize the prepared copolymersstructures. Polymers molecular weights were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The physical-chemical properties of these materials were analyzed by the molars reasons x: y used in the synthesis. And a statistical study was conducted to ascertain the probability of distribution of the various conjugated segments along the chain by these reasons. A study of the morphology and thickness of the polymer films as a function of the parameters of deposition was conducted in order to find out the best conditions to obtain homogeneous films with thickness in the order of 20 to 60 nm, necessary to achieve the best efficiencies in the polymer light emitting diode (PLEDs). For the manufacture of PLEDs ITO and Al were used as anode and cathode respectively, and a layer of 20nm of the statistical polymer as active matrix and electroluminescent. To facilitate the transport of charge carriers, layers of PEDOT: PSS and BPBD were placed between the film and polymer electrodes. Tests were also carried out with films of the molecule Alq-3 as layer electron carrier / injector. The devices had electroluminescence EL in almost the entire range of the visible spectrum, with maximum in the region of cyan, for the copolymer R55 and in the green, for the copolymer p37. Based on the Forster mechanism of energy transfer, we find that the films of these statistical polymers behave themselves as host-guest system, due to partial overlap of absorption and emission spectra of the polymers, occurring the transfer of excitons-singletes of the segments with largest gap for the smaller gap, and thus the displacement of the emission centers for the red.

Com o intuito de melhorar a eficiência dos dispositivos emissores de luz poliméricos uma das técnicas utilizadas é o confinamento da conjugação, diminuindo as perdas de energia em sítios de extinção, como fins de cadeia, defeitos ou armadilhas. Além disso, o confinamento quântico permite o controle do comprimento de onda emissivo desses materiais. Um dos mecanismos para o confinamento é a copolimerização, por meio da qual bloco conjugados são inseridos como grupos laterais na cadeia principal ou espaçadores nãoconjugados são inseridos ao longo da cadeia principal conjugada, limitando o comprimento da conjugação. O presente trabalho visou sintetizar e estudar as propriedades de copolímeros estatísticos derivados do PPV contendo segmentos com diferentes graus de conjugação distribuídos aleatoriamente na cadeia e limitados por segmentos não conjugados, e o estudo do comportamento desses materiais como camada ativa em dispositivos emissores de luz (PLEDs). Para a obtenção dos copolímeros randômicos poli[bis-(fenilenovinileno)-stat-(1,8-bis- (2,6-dioximetano-1,4- fenilenovinileno)-dioxioctano)-1,4-fenileno) (RBPV-DODM-PPV) utilizou-se a rota de Wittig, a partir dos monômeros: tereftaldeído (um dialdeído completamente conjugado), 1,8 bis (4 formil 2,6 dimetoxifenoxi) octano (um dialdeído interespaçado por uma cadeia saturada de oitometilenos) e o dicloreto de 1,4 bis (trifenilfosfôniometil) benzeno. Três razões molares x:y dos monômeros dialdeídos foram utilizadas para sintetizar os polímeros randômicos, obtendo-se diferentes proporções e tamanhos de segmentos conjugados distribuídos aleatoriamente nas cadeias poliméricas. Os materiais foram caracterizados por espectroscopia de ressonância magnética nuclear (RMN), no infravermelho, UV-visível, e fluorescência. A técnica de GPC foi utilizada para obtenção das massas moleculares e medidas de Tg foram realizadas por meio de DSC. As propriedades físico-químicas desses materiais foram analisadas em função das razões molares x:y utilizadas nas sínteses. E um estudo estatístico foi realizado para verificar as probabilidades de distribuição dos diferentes segmentos conjugados ao longo da cadeia em função dessas razões. Um estudo da morfologia e espessura dos filmes poliméricos em função dos parâmetros de deposição foi realizado a fim de descobrir as melhores condições para se obter filmes homogêneos e com espessuras da ordem de 20 a 60nm, necessários para alcançar melhores eficiências nos diodos emissores de luz poliméricos (PLEDs). Para a fabricação dos PLEDs foram utilizados ITO e Al como anodo e catodo, respectivamente, e uma camada de 20nm do polímero estatístico como matriz ativa e eletroluminescente. Para facilitar o transporte de portadores de cargas, camadas de PEDOT:PSS e BPBD foram colocadas entre o filme polimérico e os eletrodos. Também foram realizados testes com filmes da molécula Alq-3 como camada transportador-injetora de elétrons. Os dispositivos apresentaram eletroluminescência EL em quase toda a faixa do espectro visível, com máximos na região do ciano, para o copolímero R55 e na região do verde, para o copolímero p37. Baseado no mecanismo de Forster de transferência de energia, concluímos que os filmes desses polímeros estatísticos comportam-se como sistema hospedeiro-hóspede, devido a sobreposição parcial dos espectros de absorção e emissão dos polímeros, ocorrendo a transferência dos excitons-singletos dos segmentos de maior gap para os de menor gap, e, assim, o deslocamento dos centros emissivos para o vermelho e o aumento da eficiência dos dispositivos. / In order to improve the efficiency of polymeric light-emitting devices one of the techniques used is the conjugation confinement, decreasing the losses of energy in quenching sites, such as chain ends, defects or impurities. Moreover, the quantum confinement allows control the emissive wavelength of these materials. One of the confinement mechanisms is the copolymerization, which conjugated blocks are inserted as side groups in the main chain or non-conjugated spacers are inserted along the conjugated main chain, limiting the conjugation length. This study aimed synthesize and study the properties of random copolymers containing segments with different conjugation degrees randomly distributed in the chain and limited by no conjugated segments, and the study of the behaviour of these materials as active layer in a light emitting devices (PLEDs). To obtain random copolymers of poly [bis (fenilenovinileno)-stat-(1,8-bis-(2,6-dioximetano- 1, 4 - fenilenovinileno)-dioxioctano) -1,4-phenylene) (RBPV-DODM - PPV) have been used the Wittig route, from monomers: terephtaldeyde (a dialdeyde completely conjugated), 1.8 - bis (4 - formyl - 2.6 - dimethoxiphenoxi) octane (a dialdeyde interspaced by a saturated chain of eight methylene) and dichloride of 1.4 - a (triphenylphosphoniomethil) benzene. Three molars reasons x: y of dialdeydes monomers were used to synthesize the random polymers, obtaining various proportions and sizes of conjugated segments randomly distributed in the polymer chains. Infrared (IR) and ultravioletvisible (UVvis)spectroscopies, hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) were used to characterize the prepared copolymersstructures. Polymers molecular weights were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The physical-chemical properties of these materials were analyzed by the molars reasons x: y used in the synthesis. And a statistical study was conducted to ascertain the probability of distribution of the various conjugated segments along the chain by these reasons. A study of the morphology and thickness of the polymer films as a function of the parameters of deposition was conducted in order to find out the best conditions to obtain homogeneous films with thickness in the order of 20 to 60 nm, necessary to achieve the best efficiencies in the polymer light emitting diode (PLEDs). For the manufacture of PLEDs ITO and Al were used as anode and cathode respectively, and a layer of 20nm of the statistical polymer as active matrix and electroluminescent. To facilitate the transport of charge carriers, layers of PEDOT: PSS and BPBD were placed between the film and polymer electrodes. Tests were also carried out with films of the molecule Alq-3 as layer electron carrier / injector. The devices had electroluminescence EL in almost the entire range of the visible spectrum, with maximum in the region of cyan, for the copolymer R55 and in the green, for the copolymer p37. Based on the Forster mechanism of energy transfer, we find that the films of these statistical polymers behave themselves as host-guest system, due to partial overlap of absorption and emission spectra of the polymers, occurring the transfer of excitons-singletes of the segments with largest gap for the smaller gap, and thus the displacement of the emission centers for the red.

To investigate quantum confinement effects on silicon (Si) light source electroluminescence (EL) properties like quantum efficiency, external power efficiency and spectral emission, thin Si finger junctions with nanometre-scale dimensions were designed and manufactured in a fully customized silicon-on-insulator (SOI) semiconductor production technology. Since commonly available photolithography is unusable to consistently define and align nanometre-scale line-widths accurately and electron-beam lithography (EBL) by itself is too time-expensive to expose complete wafers, the wafer manufacturing process employed a selective combination of photolithography and EBL. The SOI wafers were manufactured in the clean-rooms of both the Carl and Emily Fuchs Institute for Microelectronics (CEFIM) at the University of Pretoria (UP) and the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Microelectronic Research Centre (MiRC), which made a JEOL JBX-9300FS electron-beam pattern generator (EPG) available. As far as is known this was the first project in South Africa (and possibly at the MiRC) that employed EBL to define functional nanometre-scale semiconductor devices. Since no standard process recipe could be employed, the complete design and manufacturing process was based on self-obtained equipment characterization data and material properties. The manufacturing process was unprecedented in both the CEFIM and MiRC clean-rooms. The manufacture of nanometre-scale Si finger junctions not only approached the manufacturing limits of the employed processing machinery, but also had to overcome undesirable physical effects that in larger-scale semiconductor manufacture usually are negligible. The device design, mask layout and manufacturing process therefore had to incorporate various material, equipment limitation and physical phenomena like impurity redistribution occurring during the physical manufacturing process. Although the complicated manufacturing process allowed many unexpected problems to occur, it was expected that at least the simple junction breakdown devices be functional and capable of delivering data regarding quantum confinement effects. Although due to design and processing oversights only 29 out of 505 measured SOI light sources were useful light emitters, the design and manufacture of the SOI light sources was successful in the sense that enough SOI light sources were available to conduct useful optical characterization measurements. In spite of the fact that the functional light sources did not achieve the desired horizontal (width) confinement, measured optical spectra of certain devices indicate that vertical (thickness) confinement had been achieved. All spectrometer-measured thickness-confined SOI light sources displayed a pronounced optical power for 600 nm < λ < 1 μm. The SOI light source with the highest optical power output emitted about 8 times more optical power around λ = 850 nm than a 0.35 μm bulk-CMOS avalanche light-source operating at the same current. Possible explanations for this effect are given. It was shown that the buried oxide (BOX) layer in a SOI process could be used to reflect about 25 % of the light that would usually be lost to downward radiation back up, thereby increasing the external power efficiency of SOI light sources. This document elaborates on the technical objectives, approach, chip and process design, physical wafer manufacture, production process control and measurement of the nanometre-scale SOI light sources. Copyright / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

The thesis deals with the natural substances in context with the cancer disease. The natural substances have a positive effect on the human organism and they are able to influence the viability and the growth of the cancer cells. The main mechanical device is to influence the mechanisms needed to start the apoptosis of the cancer cells and stopping further proliferation. The cancer cell lines utilization in the cancer disease is discussed in the thesis too. The thesis states common methods of determining the natural substances cytotoxicity. For the experimental part of the thesis it was chosen the MTT test method and the xCELLigence system for monitoring in real time. The mechanical device of the tested substance capsaicin in application on the prostate cell lines, tumorous PC3 and nontumorous PNT1A influence will be observed within the experimental part of the thesis.

This work focuses on understanding the impact-initiated combustion of aluminum powder compacts. Aluminum is typically one of the components of intermetallic-forming structural energetic materials (SEMs), which have the desirable combination of rapid release of thermal energy and high yield strength. Aluminum powders of various sizes and different levels of mechanical pre-activation are investigated to determine their reactivity under uniaxial stress rod-on-anvil impact conditions, using a 7.62 mm gas gun. The compacts reveal light emission due to combustion upon impact at velocities greater than 170 m/s. Particle size and mechanical pre-activation influence the initiation of aluminum combustion reaction through particle-level processes such as localized friction, strain, and heating, as well as continuum-scale effects controlling the amount of energy required for compaction and deformation of the powder compact during uniaxial stress loading. Compacts composed of larger diameter aluminum particles (~70µm) are more sensitive to impact initiated combustion than those composed of smaller diameter particles. Additionally, mechanical pre-activation by high energy ball milling (HEBM) increases the propensity for reaction initiation. Direct imaging using high-speed framing and IR cameras reveals light emission and temperature rise during the compaction and deformation processes. Correlations of these images to meso-scale CTH simulations reveal that initiation of combustion reactions in aluminum powder compacts is closely tied to mesoscale processes, such as particle-particle interactions, pore collapse, and particle-level deformation. These particle level processes cannot be measured directly because traditional pressure and velocity sensors provide spatially averaged responses. In order to address this issue, quantum dots (QDs) are investigated as possible meso-scale pressure sensors for probing the shock response of heterogeneous materials directly. Impact experiments were conducted on a QD-polymer film using a laser driven flyer setup at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Time-resolved spectroscopy was used to monitor the energy shift and intensity loss as a function of pressure over nanosecond time scales. Shock compression of a QD-PVA film results in an upward shift in energy (or a blueshift in the emission spectra) and a decrease in emission intensity. The magnitude of the shift in energy and the drop in intensity are a function of the shock pressure and can be used to track the particle scale differences in the shock pressure. The encouraging results illustrate the possible use of quantum dots as mesoscale diagnostics to probe the mechanisms involved in the impact initiation of combustion or intermetallic reactions.

White light emitting diodes (LED) have drawn increasing attention due to their low energy consumption, high efficiency and potential to become primary lighting source by replacing conventional light sources. White light emission is usually generated either by coating yellow phosphor on a blue-LED or blending red, green and blue phosphor in an appropriate ratio. Maintaining appropriate proportions of individual components in the blend is difficult and the major demerit of such system is the overall self-absorption, which changes the solution concentration. This results in uncontrolled changes in the whiteness of the emitted light. Zinc Oxide (ZnO), a wide bandgap semiconductor with a large exciton binding energy at room temperature has been recognized as a promising material for ultraviolet LEDs and laser diodes. Tuning of structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films by different dopants (Lithium, Indium and Gallium) is dealt in this thesis. The achievement of white light emission from a semiconducting material without using phosphors offers an inexpensive fabrication technology, good luminescence, low turn-on voltage and high efficiency. The present work is organized chapter wise, which has 8 chapters including the summary and future work. Chapter 1: Gives a brief discussion on the overview of ZnO as an optoelectronic material, crystal structure of semiconductor ZnO, the effect of doping, optical properties and its possible applications in optoelectronic devices. Chapter 2: Deals with various deposition techniques used in the present study, includes pulsed laser deposition and thermal evaporation. The experimental set up details and the deposition procedures are described in detail. A brief note on the structural characterization equipments, namely X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the optical characterization techniques namely Raman spectroscopy, transmission spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy is presented. The electrical properties of the films were studied by current- voltage, capacitance - voltage and Hall Effect measurements and the experimental details are discussed. Chapter 3: High quality ZnO/Si heterojunctions fabricated by growing ZnO thin films on p-type Si (100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition without using buffer layers are discussed in this chapter. The crystallinity of the heterojunction was analyzed by high resolution X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The optical quality of the film was analyzed by room temperature (RT) photoluminescence measurements. The high intense band to band emission confirmed the high quality of the ZnO thin films on Si. The electrical properties of the junction were studied by temperature dependent resistivity, current- voltage measurements and RT capacitance-voltage (C-V) analysis. ZnO thin film showed the lowest resistivity of 6.4x10-3 Ω.cm, mobility of 7 cm2/V.sec and charge carrier concentration of 1.58x1019cm-3 at RT. The charge carrier concentration and the barrier height (BH) were calculated to be 9.7x1019cm-3 and 0.6 eV respectively from the C-V plot. The BH and ideality factor, calculated by using the thermionic emission (TE) model were found to be highly temperature dependent. We observed a much lower value in Richardson constant, 5.19x10-7 A/cm2K2 than the theoretical value (32 A/cm2K2) for ZnO. This analysis revealed the existence of a Gaussian distribution (GD) with a standard deviation of σ2=0.035 V. By implementing GD to the TE, the values of BH and Richardson constant were obtained as 1.3 eV and 39.97 A/cm2K2 respectively from the modified Richardson plot. The obtained Richardson constant value is close to the theoretical value for n-ZnO. These high quality heterojunctions can be used for solar cell applications. Chapter 4: This chapter describes the structural and optical properties of Li doped ZnO thin films and the properties of ZnO/Li doped ZnO multilayered thin film structures. Thin films of ZnO, Li doped ZnO (ZLO) and multilayer of ZnO and ZLO (ZnO/ZLO) were grown on silicon and Corning glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. Single phase formation and the crystalline qualities of the films were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and Li composition in the film was investigated to be 15 Wt % by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Raman spectrum reveals the hexagonal wurtzite structure of ZnO, ZLO and ZnO/ZLO multilayer, confirms the single phase formation. Films grown on Corning glass show more than 80 % transmittance in the visible region and the optical band gaps were calculated to be 3.245, 3.26 and 3.22 eV for ZnO, ZLO and ZnO/ZLO respectively. An efficient blue emission was observed in all films that were grown on silicon (100) substrate by photoluminescence (PL). PL measurements at different temperatures reveal that the PL emission intensity of ZnO/ZLO multilayer was weakly dependent on temperature as compared to the single layers of ZnO and ZLO and the wavelength of emission was independent of temperature. Our results indicate that ZnO/ZLO multilayer can be used for the fabrication of blue light emitting diodes. Chapter 5: This chapter is divided in to two parts. The fabrication and characterization of In doped ZnO thin films grown on Corning glass substrate is discussed in the first section. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and indium doped ZnO (IZO) thin films with different indium compositions were grown by pulsed laser deposition technique. The effect of indium concentration on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of the film was studied. The films were oriented along the c-direction with wurtzite structure and are highly transparent with an average transmittance of more than 80 % in the visible wavelength region. The energy band gap was found to be decreasing with increasing indium concentration. High transparency makes the films useful as optical windows while the high band gap values support the idea that the film could be a good candidate for optoelectronic devices. The value of resistivity observed to be decreasing initially with doping concentration and subsequently increasing. The XPS and Raman spectrum confirm the presence of indium in indium doped ZnO thin films. The photoluminescence spectrum showed a tunable red light emission with different In concentrations. Undoped and In doped ZnO (IZO) thin films were grown on Pt coated silicon substrates (Pt/Si) to fabricate Pt/ZnO:Inx Schottky contacts (SC) is discussed in the second section. The SCs were investigated by conventional two probe current-voltage (I-V) measurement and by the I-V spectroscopy of conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). X-ray diffraction technique was used to examine the thin film quality. Changes in various parameters like Schottky barrier height (SBH) and ideality factor (IF) as a function of temperature were presented. The estimated BH was found to be increasing and the IF was found to be decreasing with increase in temperature. The variation of SBH and IF with temperature has been explained by considering the lateral inhomogeneities in nanometer scale lengths at metal–semiconductor (MS) interface. The inhomogeneities of SBH in nanometer scale length were confirmed by C-AFM. The SBH and IF estimated from I-V spectroscopy of C-AFM showed large deviation from the conventional two probe I-V measurements. IZO thin films showed a decrease in SBH, lower turn on voltage and an enhancement in forward current with increase in In concentration. Chapter 6: In this chapter the properties of Ga doped ZnO thin films with different Ga concentrations along with undoped ZnO as a reference is discussed. Undoped and Ga doped ZnO thin films with different Ga concentrations were grown on Corning glass substrates by PLD. The structural, optical and electrical properties of Ga doped ZnO thin films are discussed. The XRD, XPS and Raman spectrum reveal the phase formation and successful doping of Ga on ZnO. All the films show good transmittance in the visible region and the photoluminescence of Ga doped ZnO showed a stable emission in the blue- green region. The resistivity of Ga doped ZnO thin films was found to be first decreasing and then increasing with increase in Ga concentrations. Chapter 7: The effect of co-doping to ZnO on the structural, optical and electrical properties was described in this chapter. Ga and In co-doped ZnO (GIZO) thin films together with ZnO, In doped ZnO (IZO), Ga doped ZnO (GZO), IZO/GZO multilayer for comparison, were grown on Corning glass and boron doped Si substrates by PLD. GIZO showed better structural, optical and electrical properties compared with other thin films. The Photoluminescence spectra of GIZO showed a strong white light emission and the current-voltage characteristics showed relatively lower turn on voltage and larger forward current. The CIE co-ordinates for GIZO were observed to be (0.31, 0.33) with a CCT of 6650 K, indicating a cool white light and established a possibility of white light emitting diodes. Finally the chapter 8 presents the summary derived out of the work and a few suggestions on future work.

Solar energy conversion, miniaturization of semiconductor devices and associated lifetime, reliability and efficiency of devices are the basic premise of this work. This work is focused on the study of optoelectronic devices especially solar cells and its nondestructive diagnostic. Solar cells are advantageous for study mainly because the pn junction is located near the surface and contains a lot of inhomogeneities. It has been difficult until recently to investigate their local physical (electrical and optical) parameters due to the size of inhomogeneities. Behavior of inhomogeneities can be well understood with knowledge of its local properties. Establishment of measurement workplace, that satisfies requirements for measurement of local emission and optically induced current measurement, allows us detection and localization of inhomogeneities with spatial resolution more or less 100 nm. The core of thesis is characterization of imperfection using nondestructive techniques in the macroscopic region but primarily in microscopic region using scanning probe microscopy. Integral parts of the work are characterization techniques for photoelectrical devices, microscopic techniques and data processing. Scanning near-field optical microscope is used for the purpose of microscopic characterization such as topography, local optical, photoelectrical and electrooptical properties of structures in high spatial resolution. Locally induced current technique, current voltage characteristics, emission from reversed bias pn junction measurement including its thermal dependence are used for samples investigation in macroscopical region. It is possible to localize defects and structure inhomogeneity using mentioned techniques. Localised defects are consequently analyzed for composition and measured using electron microscopy. Specific outputs of work are classification of photoelectric devices defects and specification of nondestructive characterization techniques used for defect detection. Experimental characterization techniques are described together with defects measurement procedures. The key output is the catalog of serious defects which was detected. Particular defects of samples are shown including describe of its properties and physical meaning.