The impact of post-deposition hydrogen plasma treatment (HPT) on passivation in amorphous/crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) interfaces is investigated. Combining low temperature a-Si:H deposition and HPT, a high effective charge carrier lifetime > 8ms is achieved on c-Si<100>, which serves as model for surfaces promoting epitaxy of a-Si:H. It is shown that the passivation improvement stems from...

The GaAs surface passivation effects of epitaxially grown ultra-thin GaP layers and surface As–P exchange have been investigated. Optical properties of passivated and unpassivated InGaAs/GaAs near-surface quantum wells (QWs) grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) are studied by low-temperature continuous-wave and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL). By optimizing the growth conditi...

A novel approach of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) is developed for cadmium zinc telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) wafers. The approach uses environment-friendly slurry that consists of mainly silica, hydrogen peroxide, and citric acid. This is different from the previously reported slurries that are usually composed of strong acid, alkali, and bromine methanol, and are detrimental to the environm...

Photosynthesis is nature's route to convert intermittent solar irradiation into storable energy, while its use for an industrial energy supply is impaired by low efficiency. Artificial photosynthesis provides a promising alternative for efficient robust carbon-neutral renewable energy generation. The approach of direct hydrogen generation by photoelectrochemical water splitting utilizes customi...

A view of contemporary systems and control challenges in PV cell manufacturing is given in this paper, with emphasis on developing a modeling strategy for the optimization of thin-film silicon nitride SiNx:H films used for passivation and anti-reflection coatings in single (sc-) and multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells. The overall framework integrates three modeling modules: a remote p...

A multi-institutional, multidisciplinary project addresses optimal integration of computational design and efficient experimentation for the accelerated design and development of high performance materials using the example of Nb-based superalloys combining oxidation resistance, creep strength and ductility for aeroturbine applications operating at 1300 ̊C and above. Integrated within a systems ...

III/V semiconductor nanostructures have significant potential in device applications, but effective surface passivation is critical due to their large surface-to-volume ratio. For InP such passivation has proven particularly difficult, with substantial depassivation generally observed following dielectric deposition on InP surfaces. We present a novel approach based on passivation with a phosph...

Structural defects vary the optoelectronic properties of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, leading to concerted efforts control defect type and density via materials growth or postgrowth passivation. Here, we explore a simple chemical treatment that allows on–off switching low-lying, defect-localized exciton states, tunable emission properties. Using steady-state ultrafast optical spe...