Abstract
This paper reports on the photoelectrical properties of AgInTe2 through measurements of the ‘transient’ and ‘steady-state’ photocurrents. The material displayed great sensitivity to optical and thermal stresses. The ac. response of the material under dark and illuminated conditions was also investigated through measurements of the capacitance and a.c. conductance over a frequency range 5 Hz-1 MHz at different temperatures and illumination levels. An analysis of experimental results indicated the existence of a wide distribution of gap states. Under all conditions of a.c. and d.c. operation, the photo-induced responses were fast at the beginning and, thereafter, the rise and decay processes became slow with respect to time. The present authors propose a simple analysis to study the initial fast response in terms of the RC time constant of the sample system. The versatility of Elliott's correlated barrier-hopping model is also demonstrated through measurements of light-induced variations in capacitance over the entire frequency range.
