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Photoluminescence in Hydrogenated Silicon-Germanium Alloys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

R. Ranganathan ,
M. Gal ,
J. M. Viner  and
P. C. Taylor
R. Ranganathan
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
M. Gal
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
J. M. Viner
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
P. C. Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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Abstract

Results of a detailed study of photoluminescence (PL) in the a-Si1−xGex:H system are presented. Many samples exhibit a low energy “tail” to the PL efficiency which is of constant magnitude independent of x. There is a departure from this behavior when a low energy PL peak near 0.8–0.9 eV is present. The position of the low energy PL peak is independent of Ge concentration. It has been suggested that this PL transition is from an electron in the conduction band tail into a silicon dangling bond state. As Ge is added to a-Si:H it is the edge of the conduction band which decreases in energy while the valence band remains relatively constant in energy. It is therefore unlikely that the low energy PL is due to a transition from the conduction band into a silicon dangling bond state because the energy of the silicon dangling bond with respect to the valence band is probably essentially independent of Ge content. If the PL which peaks near 0.8 eV results from a transition which involves a silicon dangling bond, then the transition may be from the dangling bond to the valence band.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 95: Symposium E – Amorphous Silicon Semiconductors--Pure and Hydrogenated , 1987 , 293
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987

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