Material optimization: Strain can be applied to overcome doping limitations in semiconductors. (Courtesy: B Huang) A new universal theory and three basic rules for how defects in semiconductors behave ...

Researchers from Zhejiang University in China have investigated the impact of impurities and defects on the performance of solar cells built with mono cast silicon (CM-Si) wafers and have found that ...

Metrology is the science of measuring, characterizing, and analyzing materials. Within metrology, there are several technologies used to detect material defects on a very small scale – precision on ...

In biology, defects are generally bad. But in materials science, defects can be intentionally tuned to give materials useful new properties. Today, atomic-scale defects are carefully introduced during ...

“Traps” are places where an electron can be found "trapped" within a semiconductor. These traps are highly undesirable because they prevent electrons from moving around quickly so that they can be ...

Semiconductors may be small, but the impacts they have are significant. Semiconductors used in life-dependent applications, such as pacemakers, defibrillators, life support systems, automotive safety ...

Perovskite solar cells have been the subject of much research as the next generation of photovoltaic devices. However, many challenges remain to be overcome for the practical application. One of them ...

The emergence of new materials has opened the doors to nano-electronic and optoelectronic devices with new or improved capabilities. For example, III-V based alloys have transformed the LED industry ...