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The Role of Charged Defects in Photo-Degradation of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Vikram L. Dalal
Affiliation:
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Microelectronics Research Center
Sanjiv Chopra
Affiliation:
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Microelectronics Research Center
Ralph Knox
Affiliation:
Microelectronics Research Center, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011
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Abstract

We examine the role of charged defects in inducing degradation of electronic properties of a-Si:H upon exposure to light. We measure the kinetics of decay of photo-conductivity of a-Si:H films at different light intensities, and the corresponding changes in mid-gap optical absorption. We find that the initial, rapid decay of photo-conductivity can be modeled guite well by invoking Adler's model of conversion of charged defects to neutral dangling bonds(D- to D° conversion). A consequence of this conversion is a decrease in sub-gap absorption upon photo-induced degradation, which we observe. Therefore, we conclude that charged defects coexist with neutral defects in a-Si:H, and they play a major role in early stages of photo-degradation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

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References

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