Electrically detected electron-spin-echo envelope modulation: a highly sensitive technique for resolving complex interface structures

Transport-related triplet states and hyperfine couplings in organic tandem solar cells probed by pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Tandem solar cells constitute the most successful organic photovoltaic devices with power conversion efficiencies comparable to thin-film silicon solar cells. Especially their high open-circuit voltage - only achievable by a well-adjusted layer stacking - leads to their high efficiencies. Nevertheless, the microscopic processes causing the lossless recombination of charge carriers within the recombination zone are not well understood yet. We show that advanced pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance techniques such as electrically detected (ED)-Rabi nutation measurements and electrically detected hyperfine sublevel correlation (ED-HYSCORE) spectroscopy help to understand the role of triplet excitons in these microscopic processes. We investigate fully working miniaturised organic tandem solar cells and detect current-influencing doublet states in different layers as well as triplet excitons located on the fullerene-based acceptor. We apply ED-HYSCORE in order to study the nuclear spin environment of the relevant electron/hole spins and detect a significant amount of the low abundant ¹³C nuclei coupled to the observer spins.

Electrical current through individual pairs of phosphorus donor atoms and silicon dangling bonds

Nuclear spins of phosphorus [P] donor atoms in crystalline silicon are among the most coherent qubits found in nature. For their utilization in scalable quantum computers, distinct donor electron wavefunctions must be controlled and probed through electrical coupling by application of either highly localized electric fields or spin-selective currents. Due to the strong modulation of the P-donor wavefunction by the silicon lattice, such electrical coupling requires atomic spatial accuracy. Here, the spatially controlled application of electrical current through individual pairs of phosphorus donor electron states in crystalline silicon and silicon dangling bond states at the crystalline silicon (100) surface is demonstrated using a high‐resolution scanning probe microscope operated under ultra‐high vacuum and at a temperature of 4.3K. The observed pairs of electron states display qualitatively reproducible current-voltage characteristics with a monotonous increase and intermediate current plateaus.

CW and pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 263GHz/12T on operating amorphous silicon solar cells

Here we describe a new high frequency/high field continuous wave and pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance (CW EDMR and pEDMR) setup, operating at 263GHz and resonance fields between 0 and 12T. Spin dependent transport in illuminated hydrogenated amorphous silicon p-i-n solar cells at 5K and 90K was studied by in operando 263GHz CW and pEDMR alongside complementary X-band CW EDMR. Benefiting from the superior resolution at 263GHz, we were able to better resolve EDMR signals originating from spin dependent hopping and recombination processes. 5K EDMR spectra were found to be dominated by conduction and valence band tail states involved in spin dependent hopping, with additional contributions from triplet exciton states. 90K EDMR spectra could be assigned to spin pair recombination involving conduction band tail states and dangling bonds as the dominating spin dependent transport process, with additional contributions from valence band tail and triplet exciton states.

High resolution in-operando microimaging of solar cells with pulsed electrically-detected magnetic resonance

The in-operando detection and high resolution spatial imaging of paramagnetic defects, impurities, and states becomes increasingly important for understanding loss mechanisms in solid-state electronic devices. Electron spin resonance (ESR), commonly employed for observing these species, cannot meet this challenge since it suffers from limited sensitivity and spatial resolution. An alternative and much more sensitive method, called electrically-detected magnetic resonance (EDMR), detects the species through their magnetic fingerprint, which can be traced in the device's electrical current. However, until now it could not obtain high resolution images in operating electronic devices. In this work, the first spatially-resolved electrically-detected magnetic resonance images (EDMRI) of paramagnetic states in an operating real-world electronic device are provided. The presented method is based on a novel microwave pulse sequence allowing for the coherent electrical detection of spin echoes in combination with powerful pulsed magnetic-field gradients. The applicability of the method is demonstrated on a device-grade 1-μm-thick amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cell and an identical device that was degraded locally by an electron beam. The degraded areas with increased concentrations of paramagnetic defects lead to a local increase in recombination that is mapped by EDMRI with ∼20-μm-scale pixel resolution. The novel approach presented here can be widely used in the nondestructive in-operando three-dimensional characterization of solid-state electronic devices with a resolution potential of less than 100 nm.

Density functional theory in the solid state

Density functional theory (DFT) has been used in many fields of the physical sciences, but none so successfully as in the solid state. From its origins in condensed matter physics, it has expanded into materials science, high-pressure physics and mineralogy, solid-state chemistry and more, powering entire computational subdisciplines. Modern DFT simulation codes can calculate a vast range of structural, chemical, optical, spectroscopic, elastic, vibrational and thermodynamic phenomena. The ability to predict structure-property relationships has revolutionized experimental fields, such as vibrational and solid-state NMR spectroscopy, where it is the primary method to analyse and interpret experimental spectra. In semiconductor physics, great progress has been made in the electronic structure of bulk and defect states despite the severe challenges presented by the description of excited states. Studies are no longer restricted to known crystallographic structures. DFT is increasingly used as an exploratory tool for materials discovery and computational experiments, culminating in ex nihilo crystal structure prediction, which addresses the long-standing difficult problem of how to predict crystal structure polymorphs from nothing but a specified chemical composition. We present an overview of the capabilities of solid-state DFT simulations in all of these topics, illustrated with recent examples using the CASTEP computer program.

Evidence of trigonal dangling bonds at the Ge(111)/oxide interface by electrically detected magnetic resonance

Despite a renewed interest in Ge as a competitor with Si for a broad range of electronic applications, the microstructure and the electronic properties of the dangling bonds that, in analogy with Si, are expected at the Ge/oxide interface have escaped a firm spectroscopy observation and characterization. Clear evidence based on contactless electrically detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy of a dangling bond at the Ge(111)/GeO(2) interface is reported in this Letter. This result supports the similarity between dangling bonds at the Si(111)/oxide and Ge(111)/oxide interfaces, both showing C(3v) trigonal point symmetry with the main axis oriented along the ⟨111⟩ direction. In contrast, at the Ge(001)/oxide interface the absence of the trigonal center in favor of a lower symmetry dangling bond marks the difference with the Si(001)/oxide interface, where both centers are present and the one having higher point symmetry prevails. This fact is rationalized in terms of suboxide interface rearrangement and oxide viscoelasticity, which promote the generation of the nonaxial centers at distorted dimers. The unambiguous identification of the centers at the Ge/oxide interfaces yields a deeper insight into the physical properties of the suboxide interface structure and offers a valid indicator for the evaluation of different surface capping and passivation techniques, with the potential to boost the Ge-related technology.

Wave function control over a single donor atom

Single donor atoms in semiconductor nanostructures are attractive basic components for quantum device applications. In this work, we demonstrate the ability to manipulate the wave function of a single donor electron with an electric field. The deformation of the wave function is probed by the tunnel current which, furthermore, allows for the determination of the location of the atom in the device. This experiment demonstrates the control necessary for the utilization of single donors in quantum electronics.

Atomic structure of interface states in silicon heterojunction solar cells

Combining orientation dependent electrically detected magnetic resonance and g tensor calculations based on density functional theory we assign microscopic structures to paramagnetic states involved in spin-dependent recombination at the interface of hydrogenated amorphous silicon crystalline silicon (a-Si:H/c-Si) heterojunction solar cells. We find that (i) the interface exhibits microscopic roughness, (ii) the electronic structure of the interface defects is mainly determined by c-Si, (iii) we identify the microscopic origin of the conduction band tail state in the a-Si:H layer, and (iv) present a detailed recombination mechanism.

Pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance for thin film silicon and organic solar cells

In thin film solar cells based on non-crystalline thin film silicon or organic semiconductors structural disorder leads to localized states that induce device limiting charge recombination and trapping. Both processes frequently involve paramagnetic states and become spin-dependent. In the present perspectives article we report on advanced pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance (pEDMR) experiments for the study of spin dependent transport processes in fully processed thin film solar cells. We reflect on recent advances in pEDMR spectroscopy and demonstrate its capabilities on two different state of the art thin film solar cell concepts based on microcrystalline silicon and organic MEH-PPV:PCBM blends, recently studied at HZB. Benefiting from the increased capabilities of novel pEDMR detection schemes we were able to ascertain spin-dependent transport processes and microscopically identify paramagnetic states and their role in the charge collection mechanism of solar cells.

Theory of pulsed Reaction Yield Detected Magnetic Resonance

We propose pulse sequences for Reaction Yield Detected Magnetic Resonance (RYDMR), which are based on refocusing the zero-quantum coherences in radical pairs by non-selective microwave pulses and using the population of a radical pair singlet spin state as an observable. The new experiments are analogues of existing EPR experiments such as the primary echo, Carr-Purcell, ESEEM, stimulated echo and Mims ENDOR. All pulse sequences are supported by analytical results and numerical calculations. The pulse sequences can be used for more efficient and highly detailed characterization of intermediates of chemical reactions and charge carriers in organic semiconductors.

Lock-in detection for pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance

We show that in pulsed electrically detected magnetic resonance (pEDMR) signal modulation in combination with a lock-in detection scheme can reduce the low-frequency noise level by one order of magnitude and in addition removes the microwave-induced non-resonant background. This is exemplarily demonstrated for spin-echo measurements in phosphorus-doped silicon. The modulation of the signal is achieved by cycling the phase of the projection pulse used in pEDMR for the readout of the spin state.