PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY IN CUPROUS OXIDE SINGLE CRYSTALS

Abstract

Measurements were made on both single and multicrystalline samples of Cu2O of high resistivity. Conductivity measurements gave three activation energies, 1.0, 0.5, and 0.027 ev, for different temperature regions. The photoconductivity at constant temperatures as a function of wavelength as well as the photoconductivity as a function of temperature at constant wavelengths were measured. Over the temperature range investigated no significant difference was found between single and multicrystalline material. Surface recombination states are postulated to explain the very small temperature dependence at low temperatures.