September 12 2006 - This project is funded by the Department of Energy, National Nuclear Safety Administration, Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, Office of Nonproliferation Research and Engineering.  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is the prime contractor on this project, and the intent is to fund University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) to perform part of the scope of this project.  This is scheduled to be a three year program, with follow-on funding contingent upon research results. 
            For the first year, PNNL will produce amorphous semiconductor materials and will provide them to UIUC for characterization.  UIUC will receive 6 - 12 specimens from PNNL and will perform characterization studies to analyze the electrical properties of these materials.  The objective of the characterization studies will be to determine the suitability of these materials for use as bulk gamma radiation detectors, and to provide processing and compositional recommendations to improve their properties.  The initial material to be studied is CdGeAs2, a known glass-forming chalcopyrite semiconductor.

Characterization studies will consist of:
            • Conductivity as a function of temperature
            • Hall Effect measurements as a function of temperature to determine:
                        - Carrier type (n or p)
                        - Carrier concentration
                        - Carrier mobility
            • Optical band gap measurements
            • Valence band characterization
            • Current-voltage relationships
            • Metallization studies to develop and characterize types of contacts such as:
                        - Ohmic
                        - p-type
                        - n-type

For further information on this collaboration please visit the CdGeAs2 Research page.