Optimization of thin film photovoltaics (PV) relies on characterizing the optoelectronic and structural properties of each layer and correlating these properties with device performance. Growth evolution diagrams have been used to guide production of materials with good optoelectronic properties in the full hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) PV device configuration. The nucleation and evol...

Measurement of InAsSb bandgap energy and InAs/InAsSb band edge positions using spectroscopic ellipsometry and photoluminescence spectroscopy" The structural and optical properties of lattice-matched InAs 0.911 Sb 0.089 bulk layers and strain-balanced InAs/InAs 1Àx Sb x (x $ 0.1–0.4) superlattices grown on (100)-oriented GaSb substrates by molecular beam epitaxy are examined using X-ray diffract...

Using a combination of ellipsometry and friction force microscopy, we study the reversible swelling, collapse and variation in friction properties of covalently bound poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) layers on silicon with different grafting densities in response to exposure to good solvents and co-nonsolvent mixtures. Changes in the thickness and segment density distribution of grafted fil...

Thin films of amorphous carbon and amorphous, graphitic and fullerene-like carbon nitride were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering and optically characterized with spectroscopic ellipsometry. Complementary studies using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were performed. The films were exposed to human serum albumin (HSA) and the adsorption was monitored in situ usin...

A combined setup of quartz crystal microbalance and generalized ellipsometry can be used to comprehensively investigate complex functional coatings comprising stimuli-responsive polymer brushes and 3D nanostructures in a dynamic, noninvasive in situ measurement. While the quartz crystal microbalance detects the overall change in areal mass, for instance, during a swelling or adsorption process,...

Phase and microstructure investigations of boron nitride thin films by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the visible and infrared spectral range" (1997). Faculty Publications from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. 64. Spectroscopic ellipsometry over the spectral range from 700 to 3000 cm Ϫ1 and from 1.5 to 3.5 eV is used to simultaneously determine phase and microstructure of p...

Ellipsometry has long been a valuable technique for the optical characterization of layered systems and thin films. While simple systems like epitaxial silicon dioxide are easily characterized, complex systems of silicon and carbon junctions have proven difficult to analyze. Traditional model dielectric functions for layered silicon homojunctions, a system with a similar structure to modern tra...