Phys.org September 4, 2024
Establishing connections between material impurities and charge transport properties in emerging electronic and quantum materials requires new diagnostic methods tailored to these unique systems. Many such materials host optically-active defect centers which offer a powerful in situ characterization system, but one that typically relies on the weak spin-electric field coupling to measure electronic phenomena. An international team of researchers (Australia, USA – CUNY-The City College of New York) combined charge-state sensitive optical microscopy with photoelectric detection of an array of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers to directly image the flow of charge carriers inside a diamond optoelectronic device. Optical control was used to change the charge state of background impurities inside the diamond on-demand change in current flow in defective regions of the device. Using light they engineered conducting channels that controlled carrier flow wide-bandgap optoelectronics. According to the researchers their work could be extended to probe other wide-bandgap semiconductors relevant to current and emerging electronic and quantum technologies… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Photocurrent generation and detection within an optoelectronic diamond device… Credit: Advanced Materials, 23 August 2024