Contacts

• Director: Dr John Livingstone <johnliv@ee.uwa.edu.au>
• Website:
  

Overview

Photovoltaic devices are discrete electronic configurations which produce an output under incident light which can be used in two useful and separate ways (i) as a source of electrical power and (ii) as an information sensing medium. As a power source, photovoltaic devices are best known as solar cells where they can perform key roles in driving electrical equipment in remote locations, space vehicles being the best example. Other forms of stand-alone power sources such as fuel cells and thermoelectrics are used but the solar cells form the basis of space power.  These devices have been studied at UWA for some 25 years.

Achievements

Position sensitive detectors are being fabricated using thin transparent platinum films deposited on a-Si: H which has been sputtered on to indium tin oxide. The three-layered structure is built on a glass slide and forms a SB-i-n configuration, which behaves similarly to a standard p-i-n structure. However, it is fabricated by stages which involve no pyrogenic or toxic gases as is the case with conventional a-Si:H p-i-n devices, but with most of the advantages of these devices over discrete sensors.

A second type of PSD is being researched in which transparent films of metals are being deposited on to crystalline substrates to produce high response, linear devices with good response times and longevity. Key films are the high melting point metals tantalum and titanium which are producing excellent results due in some measure to their inherent stability. These metals have to be electron-beam deposited due to their high melting points (Ta ~3000°C) and the requirement for uniform surfaces. Both the thin film and crystalline structures are being configured for a) large area and b) 2 dimensional information.