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Free Carrier Lifetime in a-Si,Ge:H Alloys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

D.A. Young
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester NY 14627
P.M. Fauchek
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester NY 14627
Y.M. Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544
W.L. Nighan Jr
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544
C.M. Fortmann
Affiliation:
Institute of Energy Conversion, University of Delaware, Newark DE 19716
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Abstract

The lifetime of carriers injected optically in the extended states of amorphous silicon-germanium alloys has been measured by time-resolved pump and probe optical techniques using either a femtosecond dye laser or a picosecond free electron laser. When Ninj > 1018 cm-3, the lifetime of the carriers is in the picosecond time domain. Our results are comparable to what we have observed previously in a-Si:H and very recently in a-Si,C:H. There are two lifetime regimes: at high densities, the recombination is bimolecular and nonradiative, whereas at lower densities, the recombination tends to be monomolecular but still nonradiative. The origin of these lifetimes is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1992

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References

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