An optofluidic method that accurately identifies the internal geometry of nanochannel arrays is presented. It is based on the dynamics of capillary-driven fluid imbibition, which is followed by laser interferometry. Conical nanochannel arrays in anodized alumina are investigated, which present an asymmetry of the filling times measured from different sides of the membrane. It is demonstrated by theory and experiments that the capillary filling asymmetry only depends on the ratio H of the inlet to outlet pore radii and that the ratio of filling times vary closely as H(7/3). Besides, the capillary filling of conical channels exhibits striking results in comparison to the corresponding cylindrical channels. Apart from these novel results in nanoscale fluid dynamics, the whole method discussed here serves as a characterization technique for nanoporous membranes.

An experimental study on the capillary filling of nanoporous silicon with different fluids is presented. Thin nanoporous membranes were obtained by electrochemical anodization, and the filling dynamics was measured by laser interferometry, taking advantage of the optical properties of the system, related with the small pore radius in comparison to light wavelength. This optical technique is relatively simple to implement and yields highly reproducible data. A fluid dynamic model for the filling process is also proposed including the main characteristics of the porous matrix (tortuosity, average hydraulic radius). The model was tested for different ambient pressures, porous layer morphology, and fluid properties. It was found that the model reproduces well the experimental data according to the different conditions. The predicted pore radii quantitatively agree with the image information from scanning electron microscopy. This technique can be readily used as nanofluidic sensor to determine fluid properties such as viscosity and surface tension of a small sample of liquid. Besides, the whole method can be suitable to characterize a porous matrix.

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The inverse problem of capillary filling, as defined in this work, consists in determining the capillary radius profile from experimental data of the meniscus position l as a function of time t. This problem is central in diverse applications, such as the characterization of nanopore arrays or the design of passive transport in microfluidics; it is mathematically ill posed and has multiple solutions; i.e., capillaries with different geometries may produce the same imbibition kinematics. Here a suitable approach is proposed to solve this problem, which is based on measuring the imbibition kinematics in both tube directions. Capillary filling experiments to validate the calculation were made in a wide range of length scales: glass capillaries with a radius of around 150  μm and anodized alumina membranes with a pores radius of around 30  nm were used. The proposed method was successful in identifying the radius profile in both systems. Fundamental aspects also emerge in this study, notably the fact that the l(t)∝t1/2 kinematics (Lucas-Washburn relation) is not exclusive of uniform cross-sectional capillaries.

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In this paper we apply various photoconductivity techniques to study different types of semiconductors. These methods are the modulated photocurrent, the steady-state photocarrier grating, and the steady-state photoconductivity techniques, and they are used to investigate a chromium-doped gallium arsenide crystal and different hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films. First, we briefly recall what information on the material transport parameters can be extracted from the results of these various techniques. Second, we experimentally put into evidence the links existing between these apparently very dissimilar techniques by applying them first to a GaAs:Cr crystal and finally to three hydrogenated amorphous silicon samples prepared under different conditions. For this latter material, we show that the density of states distribution, the electron capture cross sections of the states-even that of the valence band tail-and the electron extended-states mobility can be obtained from the comparison of the results of these techniques. We conclude by showing that, by introducing these parameters into a numerical simulation, we can reproduce the behaviors experimentally observed for all the photoconductivity techniques.

The sub-band-gap excited photoconductivity (PC) time decay and the film structure of rf-sputter deposited nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films have been studied. Atomic force microscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements were used to assess roughness, crystalline structure and mean grain size of the films. Samples fabricated under different deposition conditions exhibit different microstructures and absolute PC, but similar persistent PC behaviour after switching off the light source. The very slow PC decay can be well represented by a function that is nearly constant for short times and decreases as a power law for times longer than about 100 s. This function is shown to be consistent with a rate equation characterized by a relaxation time that increases linearly with time. This behaviour, in turn, agrees with predictions of a previously reported model that assumes electron–hole recombination limited by carrier-density-dependent potential barriers associated with inhomogeneities. These results may have important implications on attempts to determine distributions of trap energies from PC decay curves in TiO2.