The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
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Title:	Experimental and phenomenological study of persistent photoconductivity in YBa2Cu3O6 thin films
Author:	Bubb, Daniel-Dennis McAlevy
View Online:	njit-etd2000-099 (xiv, 115 pages ~ 6.2 MB pdf)
Department:	Federated Physics Department of NJIT and Rutgers-Newark
Degree:	Doctor of Philosophy
Program:	Applied Physics
Document Type:	Dissertation
Advisory Committee:	Federici, John Francis (Committee chair) Hensel, John Charles (Committee member) Shaw, Earl David (Committee member) Thomas, Gordon A. (Committee member) Wilber, William (Committee member) Savin, William (Committee member)
Date:	2000-01
Keywords:	Photoconductivity. Thin films.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	Persistent Photoconductivity in YBa2Cu3O6+x thin films is studied by means of infrared photoconductivity measurements after the films have been illuminated with visible light at low temperature. Experimentally, the effect is characterized by the samples' electrical response to infrared light, either causing the resistance to decrease or increase. A cellular automata model is proposed in explanation of these results and is shown to be consistent with current experimental understanding of this unusual effect, both our results and those of others. The cellular automata model may have application to other unusual optical phenomena exhibited by YBa2Cu3O6+x such as resonant Raman scattering.