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Lateral Nonuniformity And Mesoscale Effects in Giant Area Electronics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

V. G. Karpov
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, U.S.A.
Diana Shvydka
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, U.S.A.
Yann Roussillon
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, U.S.A.
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Abstract

The recently developed physics of thin-film photovoltaics is suggested to be representative of other giant area electronics. We show that (i) giant-area devices are intrinsically nonuniform in the lateral directions, (ii) the nonuniformity spans length scales from millimeters to meters depending on external drivers such as light intensity and bias, and (iii) it significantly impacts the device performance. We derive a fundamental length scale that discriminates between the cases of small and large-area devices, and beyond which a new physics emerges. In addition, we present a practical method of mitigating the nonuniformity effects.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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References

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