Defects and traps are two related terms, but they are not synonymous. In general, defect density or density of defect refers to the concentration of imperfections present in a material (can also be created). These can include vacancies, interstitials, impurities, dislocations, or other structural irregularities within the crystal lattice. Trap density, on the other hand, refers to the concentration or density of electronic or charge traps within a semiconductor material. Traps are localized energy states within the band gap of a semiconductor that can capture and release charge carriers (electrons or holes). In simple words, defect density refers to the concentration of structural irregularities, while trap density refers to the concentration of localized electronic states that can influence charge carrier behavior. You can refer to my article for further details,
https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.12171
Defect density is nothing but the density of structural irregularities present in material and there is no such 'defect free' material present in practice. In simple words, defect density points out, how musch the structure is pure or free from irregularities. The lest of the defect density indicates the purest form of the structure. This parameter influences, physical stability, fabrication complexity, lifetime of a structure.
On the other hand, The trap density refers to the amount enrgy presenet in the trapped electrons/photons (For solar cells) per unit volume/area of the active material. This can be calculated from simple optical absorption. For simulation, one can use A=1-T-R relation, where, A is optical absorption, T is transmission and R reflection. Considering the case where each absorbed photon generates carrier, one can determine theoretically the number of elcetrons generted from the trappedv optical energy by simply divide the total energy by energy of electrons. After that one can determine the trap density of electrons.
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