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Electric and Optical Properties of μc-Si,Ge:H Alloys Deposited by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering (RMS)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

S. M. Cho ,
D. Wolfe ,
K. Christensen ,
G. Lucovsky  and
D. M. Maher
S. M. Cho
Affiliation:
Departments of Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8202
D. Wolfe
Affiliation:
Departments of Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8202
K. Christensen
Affiliation:
Departments of Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8202
G. Lucovsky
Affiliation:
Departments of Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8202
D. M. Maher
Affiliation:
Departments of Physics, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8202
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Abstract

Amorphous and microcrystalline silicon-germanium alloys, a-SixGel-x:H and μc-SixGel-x:H, respectively, have been prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering (RMS) from pure crystalline Si and Ge targets in a hydrogen ambient using argon as the sputtering gas. We have investigated the structural, optical, and electronic properties of the as-deposited films. The optical and electrical properties, e.g., the ambipolar diffusion length, photoconductivity, and photosensitivity, were found to be comparable to those of device-grade a-SixGe1-x:H alloys, e.g., films with x ∼ 0.5, and band-gaps ∼ 1.3–1.4 eV. In contrast to the behavior of the a-SixGel-x:H alloys, the μc-SixGe1-x:H alloys do not display a Staebler-Wronski effect, as manifested by a decay of the photoconductivity under intense illumination.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 403: Symposium I – Polycrystalline Thin Films: Structure, Texture, Properties and Applications II , 1995 , 471
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1996

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