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EXAFS study of amorphous selenium

An overview of synchrotrons and synchrotron radiation is presented, along with the theory and practical considerations behind several types of X-ray spectroscopy. The theory and practical considerations of density functional theory are also given, with direct reference to some specific software packages.<p>
Some synchrotron-excited X-ray spectroscopy measurements and density functional theory calculations of selenium and arsenic-doped selenium films are then outlined. The physical structure of crystalline and amorphous selenium and the electronic structure of amorphous selenium are discussed and comparison is made to the experimental results.<p>
A weak feature in the conduction band is identified as a "fingerprint" of the degree of crystallization in amorphous selenium from X-ray absorption measurements. Similarly, a weak feature corresponding to lone-pairs in the valence band is identified as a "fingerprint" of the arsenic concentration from X-ray emission measurements.<p>
Finally a detailed model of the structure of amorphous selenium is explained, and compared to experiment. This model is tested both by direct calculations and by a reverse Monte Carlo approach. The implications of this model with respect to the structure of amorphous and arsenic-doped amorphous selenium are discussed. Calculations suggest that simply randomizing the arrangement of "perfect" trigonal selenium is unable to reproduce the measurements of amorphous selenium; a moderate variation in the bond angle of "perfect" trigonal selenium is also necessary.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:SSU.etd-04262010-193841
Date07 May 2010
CreatorsMcLeod, John Anderson
ContributorsChang, Gap Soo, Tse, John, Xiao, Chijin, Moewes, Alex, Pickering, Ingrid
PublisherUniversity of Saskatchewan
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-04262010-193841/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

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