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Light Intensity Exponents as Sensitive Tools for the Detection of Impurities in a-Si:H

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

L. F. Fonseca ,
S.Z. Weisz ,
P. Alpuim ,
V. Chu ,
J.P. Conde ,
R. Naides  and
I. Balberg
L. F. Fonseca
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00931, PR Instituta de Engenharia (INESC), Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000 Lisbon, Portugal
S.Z. Weisz
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00931, PR Instituta de Engenharia (INESC), Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000 Lisbon, Portugal
P. Alpuim
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00931, PR Instituta de Engenharia (INESC), Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000 Lisbon, Portugal
V. Chu
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00931, PR Instituta de Engenharia (INESC), Rua Alves Redol 9, 1000 Lisbon, Portugal
J.P. Conde
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Engineering, Instituto Superior Technico, 1048-001 Lisbon, Portugal
R. Naides
Affiliation:
Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
I. Balberg
Affiliation:
Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
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Abstract

We have shown recently that the temperature dependence of the phototransport properties can yield information regarding the state distribution in the forbidden gap of semiconductors. Of these properties the light intensity exponents of both, the majority carriers, γe, and the minority carriers, γh, were found to be very sensitive to the details of this distribution. In particular, noting that sub 1/2 values of the exponents are very unusual we have studied their origin in some a-Si:H materials. Finding experimentally such sub 1/2 values of γh and running computer simulations of the recombination processes in a-Si:H led us to the conclusion that these low values are due to acceptor-like centers which have a relatively high capture coefficient for the holes. We attribute these centers to the unintentional oxygen doping in a-Si:H. We will show that the oxygen presence, usually ignored in the discussions of the phototransport properties of a-Si:H, appears to be, in many cases, the dominant factor in the properties of “intrinsic” a-Si:H.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 609: Symposium A – Amorphous & Heterogeneous Silicon Thin Films – 2000 , 2000 , A27.5
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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