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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
An experimental technique has been developed to study the electrical properties of semiconductor grain boundaries (GBs) by a focused laser beam. The laser beam is trained on a GB while the photoconductivity of the sample is measured. Both the steady-state and transient signals are recorded as functions of temperature. From these data, we obtain well-defined GB parameters, including the barrier height, interface charge density, trap energy and thermal capture cross-section. This technique allows us to examine localized regions of individual GBs in a semiconductor with multiple grains.