Title: Intermediate Band Properties of Femtosecond-Laser Hyperdoped Silicon
Description: This thesis explores using femtosecond-laser pulses to hyperdope silicon with chalcogen dopants at concentrations above the maximum equilibrium solubility. Hyperdoped silicon is promising for improving efficiencies of solar cells: the material exhibits broad-band light absorption to wavelengths deep below the corresponding bandgap energy of silicon. The high concentration of dopants forms an intermediate band (IB), instead of discrete energy levels, and the IB enables sub-bandgap light absorption. This thesis is divided into two primary studies: the dopant incorporation and the IB properties.