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Hydrogen Collision Model of The Staebler-Wronski Effect: Microscopics and Kinetics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Howard M. Branz
Howard M. Branz*
Affiliation:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401, hbranz@nrel.gov
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Abstract

A new microscopic and kinetic model of light-induced metastability in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is described. Recombination and trapping of photoinduced carriers excite hydrogen from deep Si-H bonds into a mobile configuration, leaving a dangling bond (DB) defect at the site of excitation. Normally, mobile H are recaptured at DB defects and no metastability or net DB production results. However, when two mobile H collide, they form a metastable two-hydrogen complex and leave two spatially-uncorrelated Staebler-Wronski DBs. Thermal and light-induced annealing occur when mobile H are excited from the metastable two-H complex; they diffuse and are recaptured to DBs. The microscopic model is entirely compatible with electron-spin-resonance results showing neither DB-DB nor DB-H spatial correlation of the light-induced DBs. The model leads to new differential equations describing the evolution of the mobile H and DB densities. These equation equations explain the observed room-temperature Ndb∼G2/3t1/3 dependence of DB creation upon the electron-hole pair creation rate (G) and time. The model also accounts for both t1/3-kinetics at 4.2K and t1/2-kinetics under laser-pulse soaking. Neither of these results can be explained within the prevailing electron-hole pair recombination model.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 507: Symposium A – Amorphous & Microcrystalline Silicon Technology 1998 , 1998 , 709
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1998

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References

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