Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T20:32:03.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Surface Absorption Below the Band Gap in a-Si:H Using Photoluminescence Absorption Spectroscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

S. Q. Gu
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
S. Nitta
Affiliation:
Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Gifu University, Gifu, 501–11, Japan
P. C. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
Get access

Abstract

Photoluminescence absorption spectroscopy or PLAS has been used to measure the below gap absorption in a-Si:H at 77 K. As the absorption probed by this technique is composed of contributions from the bulk and the surfaces of the a-Si:H, we have developed an improved sample structure to separate these two contributions. Two kinds of interface have been investigated: a-Si1−xNx:H/a-Si:H and a-Si1−xOx:H/a-si:H. For the studies ofa-Si1−xNx:H/a-Si:H.x, two samples have been employed. The first sample consisted of an a-Si1−xNx:H/a-Si:H/a-Si:H/a-Si1−xNx:H/NiCr layered structure; the second one had a similar structure except that the a-Si:H layer was interrupted periodically by two thin (100 A°) a-Si1−xNx:H layers to increase the contribution of the interface absorption. A shoulder of the absorption around 1.2 eV for the second sample, which was not found in the first one, is probably due to the interfaces between a-Si:H and a-Si1−xNx:H. All samples were light-soaked using an Ar+ laser (5145 A°). The increases in the absorption measured by PLAS at 77 K are essentially the same as the results of PDS at 300 K, which suggests that the interfaces do not contribute to the light-induced absorption.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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

REFERENCES

1. Semiconductors and Semimetals Pankove, J.I., ed. (Academic, New York, 1984), Vol. 21D.Google Scholar
2. Payson, J.S. and Guha, S., Phys. Rev. B32, 1326 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Loveland, R.J., Spear, W.E. and Sharbaty, A., J. Non-Cryst. Solids 40, 474 (1973).Google Scholar
4. Amer, N.M., Jackson, W.B., in Semiconductors and Semimetals, Pankove, J.I., ed. (Academic, New York, 1984), Vol. 21B, p.83 Google Scholar
5. Yamasaki, S., Philos. Mag. B56, 79 (1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6. Ranganathan, R. and Taylor, P.C., J. Non-Cryst. Solids 97+98, 707 (1987).Google Scholar
7. Tiedje, T. and Abeles, B., Appl. Phys. Lett. 45(2), 179 (1984).Google Scholar
8. Gu, S.Q., Nitta, S. and Taylor, P.C., presented at Int'l. Meeting on Stability of a-Si Materials and Solar Cells (Denver, CO, Feb. 1991), to be published as AIP Conf. Proc. (AIP, New York, 1991).Google Scholar
9. Roxlo, C.B. and Abeles, B., Phys. Rev. B34, 2522 (1986).Google Scholar
10. Bennett, M.S., Wiedeman, S. and Rajan, K., in Amorphous Silicon Technology (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, 1989), p. 577.Google Scholar