A numerical model is developed to study the time and exposure dependent x-ray sensitivity of multilayer a-Se x-ray imaging detectors on repeated x-ray exposures by considering accumulated trapped charges and their effects (trap filling, recombination, electric field profile, electric field dependent electron–hole pair creation), the carrier transport in the blocking layers, x-ray induced metastable deep trap centre generations and the effects of charge injection. The time-dependent carrier detrapping and structural relaxation (recovery of metastable trap centres) are also considered. The continuity equations for both holes and electrons, trapping rate equations, and Poisson's equation across the photoconductor for a step x-ray exposure are simultaneously solved by the backward Euler finite difference method. The electric field distribution across the multilayer detector and the dark current density under repeated exposures are also estimated. The sensitivity in a rested sample is recovered mainly by the carrier detrapping and the recombination of the injected carriers with the existing trapped carriers. The sensitivity is expected to recover almost fully by resting the sample longer than the recovery time constant of the metastable trap centres (the structural relaxation time constant), which is in the range of several hours. The simulation result is fitted with the experimental data. The proposed theoretical model shows very good agreement with the experimental relative sensitivity versus time and accumulative x-ray exposure characteristics.

This work presents a theoretical study on the 1/f low frequency noise (LFN) based on the fluctuations in the number of carriers in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel of AlGaN/GaN self-aligned HFETs. This study validates the role of thermally activated trap levels on 1/f LFN characteristics. Simulation results confirm that the low frequency noise bahvior follows characteristic of 1/f γ with frequency exponent γ between 0 and 2. At room temperature the simulation results are compared with the experiments. The effect of temperature is also studied on the noise behavior. It is found that the frequency exponent can vary with temperature.

A physics-based model based on the variational method for analyzing the two dimensional electron gas (2DEG) characteristics of polar AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions is developed. The 2DEG carrier concentration, the first and second energy subbands, and the position of the Fermi energy level are calculated for various barrier thicknesses, Al mole fractions, background dopant concentrations, and gate voltages for gated AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions. The results are in good agreement with the data reported based on self-consistent method. Whereas the aforementioned report has dealt with specific values of Al mole fraction, barrier thickness, and unintentional doping level, the present work provides a basis for calculating the 2DEG characteristics for the full range of these parameters. Furthermore, according to the proposed model, the applicability of the triangular approximation of the quantum well in AlGaN/GaN heterojunctions is evaluated.

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A theoretical model for describing the bias-dependent transient behavior of dark current in multilayer amorphous selenium (a-Se) detectors has been developed by solving the trapping rate equations and Poisson's equation in the a-Se layer. The transient dark currents in these detectors are measured and the proposed dark model is compared with the measured data. The model shows a very good agreement with the experimental results. It has been found that the dark current is mainly controlled by the Schottky emission of holes from the metal/a-Se contact. The space charge build-up due to the hole injection and trapping in the blocking layer reduces the internal field at the metal/a-Se interface of positive side and thus the dark current eventually is limited by the space charge. It has been found that the electric fields at the metal contacts reduce to 20-30% of the applied field (applied voltage/thickness). The comparison of the model with the experimental data estimates some important properties (e.g., trap center concentrations, space charges, and effective barrier heights) of the blocking layers of the multilayer detectors. The dependence of the X-ray sensitivity of multilayer a-Se X-ray imaging detectors on repeated X-ray exposures is studied by considering accumulated trapped charges and their effects (trap filling, recombination, electric field profile, electric field dependent electron-hole pair creation), the carrier transport in the blocking layers, X-ray induced metastable deep trap center generations, and the effects of dark current. We simultaneously solve the continuity equations for both holes and electrons, trapping rate equations, and the Poisson's equation across the photoconductor for a step X-ray exposure by the Backward Euler finite difference method. The theoretical model shows a very good agreement with the experimental relative sensitivity versus cumulative X-ray exposure characteristics. The electric field distribution across the multilayer detector and the dark current density under repeated exposures are also estimated.