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A SAXS Study of Hydrogenated Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Kristin Kiriluk ,
Don Williamson ,
David Bobela ,
Craig Taylor ,
Baojie Yan ,
Jeff Yang ,
Subhendu Guha ,
Arun Madan  and
Feng Zhu
Kristin Kiriluk
Affiliation:
kkiriluk@mymail.mines.edu
Don Williamson
Affiliation:
dwilliam@mines.edu, Colorado School of Mines, Physics, Golden, Colorado, United States
David Bobela
Affiliation:
david.bobela@nrel.gov, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, United States
Craig Taylor
Affiliation:
pctaylor@mines.edu, Colorado School of Mines, Physics, Golden, Colorado, United States
Baojie Yan
Affiliation:
byan@scholarone.com, United Solar Ovonic LLC, R&D, Troy, Michigan, United States
Jeff Yang
Affiliation:
jyang@uni-solar.com, United Solar Ovonic LLC, 1100 West Maple Road, Troy, Michigan, 48084, United States
Subhendu Guha
Affiliation:
sguha@uni-solar.com, United Solar Ovonic LLC, Troy, Michigan, United States
Arun Madan
Affiliation:
arunmadan@aol.com, MVSystems, Inc, 500 Corporate Circle, Unit L, Golden, Colorado, 80401, United States, 3032719907, 3032719771
Feng Zhu
Affiliation:
fzhu@mvsystemsinc.com, MVSystems, Inc, 500 Corporate Circle, Unit L, Golden, Colorado, 80401, United States, 3032719907, 3032719771
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Abstract

We have used small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) in conjunction with X-ray diffraction (XRD) to study the nanostructure of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H). The crystallite size in the growth direction, as deduced from XRD data, is 24 nm with a preferred [220] orientation in the growth direction of the film. Fitting the SAXS intensity shows that the scattering derives from electron density fluctuations of both voids in the amorphous phase and H-rich clusters in the film, probably at the crystallite interfaces. The SAXS results indicate ellipsoidal shaped crystallites about 6 nm in size perpendicular to the growth direction. We annealed the samples, stepwise, and then measured the SAXS and ESR. At temperatures below 350◦C, we observe an overall increase in the size of the scattering centers on annealing but only a small change in the spin density, which suggests that bond reconstruction on the crystallite surfaces takes place with high efficacy.

Keywords

nanostructureSix-ray diffraction (XRD)
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1245: Symposium A – Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology-2010 , 2010 , 1245-A13-02
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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