Surface Recombination

Surface recombination is the process where electrons and holes (positive charge carriers) in a semiconductor material meet and cancel each other out at the material's surface. This occurs because the surface has imperfections or dangling bonds that provide sites for these carriers to recombine. When this happens, it reduces the number of charge carriers available to generate current, thereby decreasing the efficiency of devices like solar cells and sensors. Effective surface passivation techniques are used to minimize surface recombination by smoothing or protecting the surface, allowing more charge carriers to reach the device’s active regions and improving performance.