Schottky CdTe nuclear detectors are affected by bias-induced polarization phenomena when operating at room temperature. A space charge buildup occurs at the blocking contact causing the degradation in detection performance. By means of Pockels effect, we study the electric field distribution inside the detector and its variation with time and temperature. The analysis of the space charge has allowed us to point out the role of the Schottky contact and of carrier detrapping from deep levels in the polarization mechanism. Moreover, measured current transients have been quantitatively accounted for by the increase in the electric field at the blocking junction.

We report on photoconduction and optical properties of aligned assemblies of core-shell CdSe/CdS nanorods prepared by a seeded growth approach. We fabricate oriented layers of nanorods by drop casting the nanorods from a solution on substrates with prepatterned, micrometer-spaced electrodes and obtain nanorod alignment due to the coffee stain effect. The photoconductivity of the nanorod layers can be improved significantly by an annealing process under vacuum conditions. The spectral response of the photocurrent shows distinct features that can be assigned to the electronic level structure of the core-shell nanorods and that relate well to the spectra obtained by absorption measurements. We study assemblies of nanorods oriented parallel and perpendicular to the applied electric field by the combined use of photocurrent and photoluminescence spectroscopy. We obtain consistent results which show that charge carrier separation and transport are more efficient for nanorods oriented parallel to the electric field. We also investigate the light polarization sensitivity of the photocurrent for the oriented nanorod layers and observe higher conductivity in the case of perpendicular polarization with respect to the long axis of the nanorods.

Effects of excess oxygen introduced during sputter deposition on carrier mobility in as-deposited and postannealed indium-tin-oxide filmsWe report investigations of the electronic transport properties carried out by means of the Hall technique for indium-tin-oxide thin films on glass after a variety of surface treatments. We find that oxygen-plasma treatments induce a significant increase in the carrier concentration, and a less significant decrease of mobilities with respect to ''as-received'' or aquaregia treated substrates. We consider that this is indicative of an increased concentration of defects, as a result of the plasma exposure.

Tetrapod-shaped CdSe(core)/CdTe(arms) colloidal nanocrystals, capped with alkylphosphonic acids or pyridine, were reacted with various small molecules (acetic acid, hydrazine and chlorosilane) which induced their tip-to-tip assembly into soluble networks. These networks were subsequently processed into films by drop casting and their photoconductive properties were studied. We observed that films prepared from tetrapods coated with phosphonic acids were not photoconductive, but tip-to-tip networks of the same tetrapods exhibited appreciable photocurrents. On the other hand, films prepared from tetrapods coated with pyridine instead of phosphonic acids were already highly photoconductive even if the nanocrystals were not joined tip-to-tip. Based on the current-voltage behavior under light we infer that the tunneling between tetrapods is the dominant charge transport mechanism. In all the samples, chemically-induced assembly into networks tended to reduce the average tunneling barrier. Additionally, pyridine-coated tetrapods and the tip-to-tip networks made out of them were tested as active materials in hybrid photovoltaic devices. Overall, we introduce an approach to chemically-induced tip-to-tip assembly of tetrapods into solution processable networks and demonstrate the enhancement of electronic coupling of tetrapods by various ligand exchange procedures.

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