Surface photovoltage effects on the isomeric semiconductors of boron-carbide

Abstract

During exposure to synchrotron radiation, closo 1,7-dicarbadodecaborane (metacarborane) and closo 1,2-dicarbadodecaborane (orthocarborane) decompose, and are accompanied by increasingly evident photoemission surface photovoltage effects. We show that metacarborane and orthocarborane form self-doped n-type and p-type boron-carbides, respectively. Surface photovoltage effects dominate the photoemission final state, not the changes in electronic structure due to decomposition.