A measurement set-up for photoconductivity decay experiments

Measurements of photoconductivity decay from the steady state for samples of amorphous silicon and silicon-carbon alloys were carried out using the experimental set-up with a Pockels cell as a light chopper. The developed electronic switching circuit allows measurements of decay times ranging down to microseconds. The advantage of the adopted method of light switching is that one can easily control the light intensity and photon energy. From knowledge of the photoconductivity decay time and the value of the steady state photoconductivity for a given sample, the carrier drift mobility can be calculated.