Dr Theo Kreouzis Project Abstracts
Transient (Photo) Conduction techniques for charge mobility measurements (3rd year BSc or 4th year MSci - experimental): At a fundamental level the current flowing thorough a semiconductor relies on the physical drift of charge carriers. In the condensed matter group we have been measuring the drift velocities of electrons and holes within organic semiconductors for over twenty years using transient conductivity (Dark Injection) and photoconduction (Time of Flight) and obtaining the relevant carrier mobilities. The student will fabricate their own organic semiconductor samples and measure the mobility of charge carriers within their samples. The validity of a number of theoretical expressions for the field and temperature dependence of the mobility will then be tested.
Organic Electronics (3rd year MSci review): Organic semiconductors are Carbon based molecular semiconductors that differ fundamentally from the Group IV and III-V inorganic systems commonly encountered. The students will study the fundamental physics of organic semiconductors and the various applications of these to electronic and other devices such as: Xerography, Organic Light Emitting Diodes, Organic Photovoltaic Devices, Organic Field Effect Transistors etc.
Automating current transient data fitting (3rd year BSc or 4th year MSci - computational): Time of Flight (ToF) and Dark Injection (DI) experiments can generate large numbers of transient current data files (parametric in electric field and temperature, for example). Currently the data is analysed semi-manually which is time consuming and prone to human error. The student will be supplied with ASCII text files of real dispersive and non-dispersive ToF experimental data as well as DI data and will write code on suitable software (e.g. C++ or Mathematica) which will automate the fitting and analysis. N.B. This project requires significant computational competence!
