Drive Level Capacitance Profiling

Drive Level Capacitance Profiling (DLCP) is a type of capacitance voltage profiling characterization technique developed specifically for amorphous and polycrystalline materials which have more anomalies such as deep levels, interface states, or nonuniformities. Whereas in standard CV profiles the charge response is assumed to be linear (dQ = CdV), in DLCP profiles the charge response is expected to have significant nonlinear behavior (dQ = C₀dV + C₁(dV)² + C₂(dV)³) due to the significant larger AC-signal-amplitude used in the DLCP technique. DLCP can just like the Admittance Spectroscopy yield both the spatial and the energetic distribution of defects. The energetic distribution is obtained by varying the frequency of the AC-signal, while the spatial distribution is sustained by modifications in the applied DC-bias.

DLCP is a strictly dynamic measurement, meaning that the steady state behavior recorded in a CV profile is discarded. As a result, DLCP is insensitive to interface states.

References

Heath, Jennifer T., J. David Cohen, William N. Shafarman. "Bulk and MetaStable Defects in CuIn(1-x)Ga(x)Se2 Thin Films Using Drive Level Capacitance Profiling." J. of Applied Physics. 95.3 (2004).