Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T01:18:21.680Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Thin Films with Nanocrystalline Silicon Inclusions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

T. J. Belich ,
S. Thompson ,
C.R. Perrey ,
U. Kortshagen ,
C.B. Carter  and
J. Kakalios
T. J. Belich
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
S. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
C.R. Perrey
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
U. Kortshagen
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
C.B. Carter
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
J. Kakalios
Affiliation:
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Get access

Abstract

Thin films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon containing nanocrystalline silicon inclusions (a/nc-Si:H) have been synthesized in an RF capacitively coupled PECVD system using a mixture of hydrogen diluted silane and helium, under deposition conditions at the edge of powder formation within the plasma. High resolution TEM confirms the presence of nanocrystallites as small as 2 nm in these films. Measurements of the optical absorption spectrum using CPM and PDS indicates a broadening of the Urbach slope in the a/nc-Si:H, compared to a-Si:H films, but no appreciable increase in midgap absorption. Despite the deposition conditions for the a/nc-Si:H being very different from those associated with producing optimal quality a-Si:H, the dark conductivity and photoconductivity values, and the sensitivity to light-induced defect creation in the a/nc-Si:H films are comparable to those in a-Si:H.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 762: Symposium A – Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Silicon-Based Films – 2003 , 2003 , A14.4
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Staebler, D. L. and Wronski, C.R., Appl. Phys. Lett., 31, 292 (1976); J. Appl. Phys. 51, 3262 (1980).Google Scholar
2.See, for example, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA) 609, (2000).Google Scholar
3. Wagner, S., Carlson, D. E. and Branz, H. M., Electrochem. Soc. Symp. On Photovoltaics for the 21st Cent, (1999).Google Scholar
4. Street, R. A., Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1991).Google Scholar
5. Matsumura, H., Japn. J. Appl. Phys. 30, L1522 (1991).Google Scholar
6. Mahan, A. H., Carapella, J., Nelson, B. P., Crandall, R. S. and Balberg, I., J. Appl. Phys. 69, 6728 (1991).Google Scholar
7. Yang, L. and Chen, L.-F., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA) 336, 669 (1994).Google Scholar
8. Lubianiker, Y., Cohen, J. D., Jin, H.-C. and Abelson, J. R., Phys. Rev. B 60, 4434 (1999); D. Kwon, C.-C. Chen, J. D. Cohen, H.-C. Jin, E. Hollar, I. Robertson and J. R. Abelson, Phys. Rev. B 60, 4442 (1999).Google Scholar
9. Longeaud, C., Kleider, J.P., Cabarrocas, P. Roca i, Hamma, S., Meaudre, R., and Meaudre, M., J. Non Cryst. Solids, 227-230, 96 (1998).Google Scholar
10. Butte, R., Meaudre, R., Meaudre, M., Vignoli, S., Longeaud, C., Kleider, J.P., and Cabarrocas, P. Roca i, Philos. Mag. B, 79, 1079 (1999).Google Scholar
11. Cabarrocas, P. Roca i, Morral, A. Fontcuberta i, and Poissant, Y., Thin Solid Films, 403-404, 39 (2002).Google Scholar
12. Williams, D. B. and Carter, C.B., Transmission Electron Microscopy (Plenum, New York) 1996.Google Scholar
13. Tanielian, M., Philos. Mag. B 45, 435 (1982).Google Scholar
14. Haider, M., Uhlemann, S., Schwan, E., Rose, H., Kabius, B. and Urban, K., Nature 392, 768 (1998).Google Scholar
15. Lentzen, M., Jahnen, B., Jia, C. L., Thust, A., Tillmann, K. and Urban, K., Ultramicrosc. 92, 233 (2002).Google Scholar
16. Urban, K. and Lentzen, M., Microsc.Microanal. 8 (sup. 2), 8 (2002).Google Scholar
17. Haider, M., Rose, H., Uhlemann, S., Schwan, E., Kabius, B. and Urban, K., Ultramicrosc. 75, 53 (1998).Google Scholar
18. Jia, C. L., Lentzen, M. and Urban, K., Science 299, 870 (2003).Google Scholar
19. Perrey, C. R., Carter, C. B. and Lentzen, M., Microsc. Microanal. 9 (sup. 2) in press.Google Scholar
20. Amer, N. M. and Jackson, W. B., in Semimetals and Semiconductors, edited by Pankove, Jacques I., (Academic Press, New York) vol. 21B, 83 (1884).Google Scholar
21. Quicker, D. and Kakalios, J., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA) 420, 611 (1996).Google Scholar