Photoconductivity in n-type tin fluoride borate glass
摘要
This study investigates the electronic structure and conduction mechanisms of a non-toxic n-type F-doped glass (4SnF2–57SnO–37B2O3–2Al2O3). The room-temperature electronic conductivity and highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap of the glass were approximately 1 × 10−4 S/cm and 3.3 eV, respectively. Dark current is attributed to electron hopping among the approximately 20-nm nanocrystalline domains of SnO2, SnF2, and/or Sn4O2F10. Both dispersive and non-dispersive decrease of the photocurrent were observed under photoexcitation. Electrons excited by photons over the HOMO–LUMO gap energy are trapped during migration, and those excited by energies above the optical bandgap exhibit uniform temperature-independent decay with a photocurrent that increases with photon energy. No obvious photocurrent was detected below the HOMO–LUMO gap, and the drift mobility for dispersive conduction was approximately 1 × 10−4 cm2/(V∙s), independent of excitation energy or temperature. To the authors’ knowledge, drift mobility has not been previously quantified in a non-toxic, visible-light transparent, room-temperature conductive oxide glass semiconductor.