Silicon research of the
Webergroup
Research Fields
Our group has over 20 years of
experience studying transition metals in silicon. The main directions
of our current research are
Various tools are employed for
the
characterization of electrical, optical,
and structural properties of silicon materials and devices. Our research
group has produced numerous
publications
and has conducted a numerous collaborations with industry and
academia.
Motivation
Silicon is the second most naturally
abundant material in the Earth's crust, and it is easily doped
to engineer its electrical properties. For these reasons, silicon
is perhaps the single most important semiconductor material
in recent human history. Not only is silicon the basis for integrated
circuit (IC) technology, it is also the most widely used material
for photovoltaic (PV) modules which convert sunlight into electrical
energy. Transition metal contamination of silicon is a serious
problem for both industries, as these contaminants create highly
recombination-active states deep in the bandgap of the material,
which effectively degrade device performance. Understanding
the Physics of Transition Metal Contamination
is the key to developing effective Gettering
and Passivation Techniques for reducing the detrimental
effect of transition metals on device performance. Studies of
The Effects of Transition Metals in PV
Device Performance focus specifically on increasing the
efficiency of solar cells. In addition, our group's expertise
is applied to the investigation of High-k
Dielectrics that involve zirconium and halfnium.
