The temperature dependence of the dark conductivity, σD, of as-grown and H depleted µproportional σc-Si was measured. While σD of the H depleted samples did not exhibit any influence of thermal treatment prior to the measurements, in as-grown σproportional µc-Si the dark conductivity increased by 2 orders of magnitude below 300 K upon rapid thermal quenching. The frozen-in state is reversible and an anneal at 440 K followed by a slow cool completely restores the initial state. The time and temperature dependence of the relaxation of the quenched-in state reveals two competing processes. At short times σD increases due to the activation of a donor complex and at long times σD decreases due to the dissociation of bond-center H complexes.

We have studied the density of states (DOS) of many different series of a-Si:H samples prepared in radio-frequency powered deposition systems. Samples were obtained from decomposition of pure silane or of mixtures of silane with argon, helium or hydrogen. The DOS were investigated in the as-deposited, light-soaked and annealed states. For all the samples the light-soaking behaviour is almost the same: 2 min of light-soaking are enough to increase the deep states density and after full saturation both the deep states and the conduction band tail exhibit a large increase. The effect of the annealing process is sample dependent, the DOS being restored for some samples or almost insensitive to the annealing process in some cases. To explain all these results, we propose a mechanism of light-soaking/annealing in which interstitial H2 molecules and voids play a major role.

A tailored ZnO:Al/a-p-i-n SiC:H/Al configuration for the laser scanned photodiode (LSP) imaging detector is proposed. The LSP utilizes light modulated depletion layers as detector and a laser beam for readout. When highly resistive a-SiC:H doped layers are used its higher optical gap when compared with the active layer are responsible by charge accumulation at the illuminated interfaces which blocks the carrier collection under illumination. Those insulator-like layers act as MIS structures that prevent excess signal charge from blooming to the nearby dark regions avoiding the image smearing.

The optical-to-electrical transfer characteristics show reciprocity between light intensity and image signal intensity only limited by the doped layers composition. Data reveal that the sensitivity, the responsivity and the spatial resolution are limited by the cell configuration while the linearity depends on the light source flux used to map the image onto the sensor. By using tailored SiC:H/Si:H/SiC:H p-i-n heterostructures an increase in the image signal optimized to the blue is achieved with a responsivity of 0.2 mW/cm2 and a spatial resolution of 20 µm.

Biasing the substrate during deposition and the substrate's surface morphology may both have major effects on the structural properties of thin films. We present the results of structural investigations (Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, SAXS) of thin silicon films that were prepared at low temperatures by electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) chemical-vapor deposition. The effect of substrate bias during the deposition was investigated for positive DC susceptor biases VB ranging from 0 to 45 V. For stainless steel substrates with an artificially enlarged surface roughness (smart substrates), an increase of the crystallinity could be observed with Raman spectroscopy. Films prepared under a susceptor bias of +15 V exhibited a texture inversion of preferential (220)- to (111)- oriented grains, which was accompanied by an increase in grain size from 18 to 42 nm. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) revealed the films as deposited on Al foil to exhibit significant free volume fractions (microvoids). The ability of tailoring the structure of thin Si films by applying a bias is discussed in terms of controlling the energy and intensity of ion flux to the surface of the growing film. This can efficiently be achieved in an ECR system, where the mean free path of gas particles exceeds the thickness of the plasma sheath.

In order to study a role of Si dangling bonds in the Er photoluminescence mechanism in a-Si:H, we prepared Er-doped a-Si:H films with various densities of Si dangling bonds using rf magnetron sputtering method. The density of Si dangling bonds was changed by three ways: (1) change of Ar-to-H2 gas ratio in the sputtering ambient, (2) light soaking and (3) annealing. The intensity of the Er photoluminescence at 1540 nm tends to decrease with increasing the density of Si dangling bonds in the first two cases. In the case of annealing, the intensity of the Er photoluminescence first increases with a decrease in the density of Si dangling bonds due to the structural relaxation up to 250 °C and continues to increase up to 350 °C even though the density of Si dangling bonds increases due to hydrogen evolution. This increase in the photoluminescence intensity is probably caused by a change of the environment of Er ions.

Electrostatic actuation of bridge and cantilever structures is studied. The structures are composed of bilayers of amorphous or microcrystalline silicon and aluminum fabricated using surface micromachining on glass substrates. The structures are actuated by applying the sum of a DC and a low-frequencyAC voltage. The resulting AC deflection is detected optically. The dependence of this deflection upon theapplied voltages and the bridge length is studied and compared with the predictions of an electromechanical model. The deflection amplitude can be electrostatically controlled and detected with a precision estimated to be better than a nanometer.

We present studies of the ultrafast dynamics of photoexcited carriers in HWCVD nanocrystalline silicon thin films to address the underlying physics of carrier relaxation and recombination processes in this heterogeneous material. The degree of crystallinity is controlled by varying the H-dilution during deposition, yielding materials with increasingly larger grain size and crystalline fraction at higher dilution values. Time-resolved measurements of the carrier dynamics were made using a femtosecond pump-probe method, in which a short pump pulse excites carriers in the sample and a time-delayed probe pulse measures the resulting change in the optical properties as a function of the pump-probe delay time. Photoexcitation of carriers with pulses 35 fs in duration centered at 1.55 eV results in a net induced absorbance signal in the near-infrared that is analyzed in terms of a multi-component response that includes contributions from the silicon crystallites and the amorphous matrix.

The fundamental ingredient lacking in solar cell modeling is the spatial distribution of defects. To gain this information, we use drive-level capacitance profiling (DLCP) on hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells. We find the following: Near the p-i interface the defect density is high, decreasing rapidly into the interior, reaching low values in the central region of the cell, and rising rapidly again at the n-i interface. The states in the central region are neutral dangling-bond defects whose density agrees with those typically found in similar films. However, those near the interfaces with the doped layers are charged dangling bonds in agreement with the predictions of defect thermodynamics. We correlate the changes in solar cell efficiency owing to intense illumination with changes in the defect density throughout the cell. Defects in the central region of the cell increase to values typically found in companion films. We describe the measurements and interpretation of DLCP for solar cells with the aid of a solar cell simulation.

We investigated the electrical stability of amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (a-Si:H TFTs) fabricated on 51 μm thick polyimide foil at 150°C. Gate dc-voltage bias stressing caused an increase in threshold voltage and subthreshold slope, and a minor decrease in mobility. Annealing in H2+N2 substantially improved the stability of the TFTs. In annealed TFTs the threshold voltage shift exhibited a power law dependence on time with the exponent γ depending on gate bias Vg. For Vg = 20 V, γ = 0.45, while for Vg = 80 V, γ = 0.27. The threshold voltage shift also exhibited a power law dependence on Vg with the exponent β depending slightly on stress duration. β = 2.1 for t = 100 sec and 1.7 for t = 5000 sec. These values fall into the range experimentally observed for a-Si:H TFTs fabricated at the standard temperatures of 250-350°C.

Phase-change wax-based printed masks were used to fabricate a-Si:H thin-film transistors (TFTs) in place of conventional lithography. Wax-mask features with a minimum feature size of ∼20 [.proportional]m was achieved using an acoustic-ink-printing process. Bottom-gate TFTs with source-drain contacts overlapping the channel were created using a four-mask process. The TFTs have I-V characteristics comparable to photolithographically patterned devices, with mobility of 0.6-1 cm2/V·s, threshold voltage of 2-3 V, and on/off ratios exceeding 107, for devices with channel lengths below 50[.proportional]m.

Thin polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films on glass are of great interest for electronic and photovoltaic applications. In this paper we report the successful realisation of thick (5 microns), large-grained (5 microns), continuous and smooth poly-Si films on glass at a temperature below 700°C. This significant technological milestone was achieved by using ion-assisted deposition (IAD) of silicon at 630°C for thickening a thin poly-Si seeding layer made on the glass at about 500°C by aluminium-induced crystallisation of amorphous silicon. Transmission electron micro-graphs reveal an epitaxial relation between about 50% of the grains of the IAD-grown layer and the seeding layer, while the remainder grew with a different orientation than the seed grains. The grain size of the IAD-grown poly-Si film is determined by the grain size of the underlying polySi seeding layer, a clear experimental proof of the “seeding layer concept”.

Thin a-Si:H films, with a thickness of 1 µm, with different hydrogen concentrations, prepared by hot wire deposition were crystallized by 514.5 nm cw Ar ion laser radiation, with a power density between 150 and 270 kW/cm2. The crystallization was continuously monitored by Raman spectroscopy for exposures up to hours. The analysis of crystallization process using Johnson-Mehl phenomenological equations showed an apparent crystallization energy of around 0.5 eV and low dimensional crystal growth. The mean value of the crystal size decreases with increasing irradiation energy and initial hydrogen content and varies between 3 and 6 nm.

Amorphous and micro-crystalline Si films have been deposited by the hot-wire technique on deeply structured columnar ZnO films. It is found that nearly perfect conformal deposition occurs for amorphous films, similar to what was previously found for rf-plasma deposited films. Micro-crystalline films deposited by the hot wire technique are less conformal since deposition occurs preferentially on protruding features of the substrate, while films deposited by rf-plasma CVD exhibit high conformality.

Insights into the growth processes and evolution of microstructure in intrinsic hydrogenated silicon (Si:H) films obtained from real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) are extended to the characterization of the optoelectronic properties of the corresponding solar cells. To assess the effects of transition regions from the amorphous to mixed microcrystalline phases, cell structures with and without such regions at different depths in the i-layer from the p-contact have been investigated. Experimental results are presented that clearly demonstrate changes in the mobility gap, Eµ, of the materials as their microstructure evolves with thickness, further supporting the important effect of the hydrogen dilution ratio R (R[H2]/[SiH4]) on the transition between the amorphous and microcrystalline phases. Light J-V characteristics at room temperature and dark J-V characteristics at different temperatures were measured on p(a-SiC:H:B)-i(Si:H)-n(µc-Si:H:P) solar cell structures with i-layers of different thicknesses and R values. The mobility gaps of both the amorphous and microcrystalline intrinsic-layer materials as well as those of the transition layers are obtained from dark J(V,T) measurements. Using numerical simulation, both the light and the dark J-V characteristics are self-consistently modeled assuming sharp changes in the mobility gaps at the intrinsic layer transition thicknesses determined by RTSE.

Nickel-Induced-Lateral-Crystallization (NILC) was carried out on a 6000 Å amorphous Si (a-Si) layer. 6000 Å NILC poly-Si was formed and the upper 5000 Å Si layer was then removed. When compared to the conventional 1000 Å NILC poly-Si, the bottom 1000 Å NILC poly-Si layer was found to have relatively larger grains, less grain boundaries and better transistor mobility. The new high quality (super) NILC poly-Si layer can potentially provide greater contributions for novel device and circuit applications.

We demonstrate that one can detect minuscule amounts of hydrogen diffusion out of a-Si:H under illumination at room temperature, by monitoring the changes in the Raman spectrum of amorphous tungsten oxide as a function of illumination. The Staebler-Wronski effect, the light-induce creation of metastable defects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), has been one of the major problems that has limited the performance of such devices as solar cells. Recently, Branz suggested the hydrogen collision model that can explain many aspects of the Staebler-Wronski effect. One of the main predictions of this model is that the photogenerated mobile hydrogen atoms can move a long distance at room temperature. However, light-induced hydrogen motion in a-Si:H has not been experimentally observed at room temperature. We utilized the high sensitivity of the Raman spectrum of electrochromic a-WO3 to hydrogen insertion to probe the long-range motion of hydrogen at room temperature. We deposited a thin (200 nm) layer of a-WO3 on top of a-Si:H, and under illumination, a change in the Raman spectrum was detected. By comparing the Raman signal changes with those for control experiments where hydrogen is electrochemically inserted into a-WO3, we can estimate semiquantitatively the amount of hydrogen that diffuses out of the a-Si:H layer.

In this paper the impact of the ESL (Etch Stop layer) nitride on the device performance especially the threshold voltage (Vt) has been studied. From SIMS analysis, it is found that different nitride gives different H concentration, [H] in the Gate oxide area, the higher [H] in the nitride film, the higher H in the Gate Oxide area and the lower the threshold voltage. It is also found that using TiSi instead of CoSi can help to stop the H from diffusing into Gate Oxide/channel area, resulting in a smaller threshold voltage drift for the device employed TiSi. Study to control the [H] in the nitride film is also carried out. In this paper, RBS, HFS and FTIR are used to analyze the composition changes of the SiN films prepared using Plasma enhanced Chemical Vapor deposition (PECVD), Rapid Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition (RTCVD) with different process parameters. Gas flow ratio, RF power and temperature are found to be the key factors that affect the composition and the H concentration in the film. It is found that the nearer the SiN composition to stoichiometric Si3N4, the lower the [H] in SiN film because there is no excess silicon or nitrogen to be bonded with H. However the lowest [H] in the SiN film is limited by temperature. The higher the process temperature the lower the [H] can be obtained in the SiN film and the nearer the composition to stoichiometric Si3N4.

We apply a rate-equation pair binding model of nucleation kinetics [1] to the nucleation of Si islands grown by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition on SiO2 substrates. Previously, we had demonstrated an increase in grain size of polycrystalline Si films with H2 dilution from 40 nm using 100 mTorr of 1% SiH4 in He to 85 nm with the addition of 20 mTorr H2. [2] This increase in grain size is attributed to atomic H etching of Si monomers rather than stable Si clusters during the early stages of nucleation, decreasing the nucleation density. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements show that the nucleation density increases sublinearly with time at low coverage, implying a fast nucleation rate until a critical density is reached, after which grain growth begins. The nucleation density decreases with increasing H2 dilution (H2:SiH4), which is an effect of the etching mechanism, and with increasing temperature, due to enhanced Si monomer diffusivity on SiO2. From temperature-dependent measurements, we estimate the activation energy for surface diffusion of Si monomers on SiO2 to be 0.47 ± 0.09 eV. Simulations of the temperature-dependent supercritical cluster density lead to an estimated activation energy of 0.42 eV ± 0.01 eV and a surface diffusion coefficient prefactor of 0.1 ± 0.03 cm2/s. H2-dilution-dependent simulations of the supercritical cluster density show an approximately linear relationship between the H2 dilution and the etch rate of clusters.

a-Si:H films and their n-i-p solar cells were prepared using plasma-enhanced CVD. The samples were prepared with no-, low-, standard, and high-H dilution. Raman and photoluminescence (PL) were used to characterize the i-layer. The main results are (a) Raman shows typical a-Si:H mode except for a c-Si peak in the 450 nm-thick film with high-H dilution, and (b) PL shows two regimes. (I) Below the onset of microcrystallinity characterized by x-ray diffraction, a blue-shift of the 1.4 eV PL peak energy and a decrease of the band width occur. (II) Above the onset of microcrystallinity, the PL efficiency decreases by a factor of 4-5, and the PL peak energy is red-shifted toward 1.2 eV as the μc-Si volume fraction is increased. In addition, the solar cell open circuit voltage shows first an increase and then a decrease, correlating with the PL peak energy position. We conclude that the PL spectroscopy is a sensitive tool for characterizing the gradual amorphous-to-microcrystalline structural transition in thin film solar cells.

We have recently observed that the initial performance of amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar cells can be improved by up to several % by annealing the cells at successively lower temperatures for successively longer times. For some devices, we also observed an improvement in performance after light soaking that was statistically significant. We have also observed an improvement in the stabilized performance of cells that were subjected to reverse bias annealing after light soaking. This effect was clearly evident in single-junction p-i-n cells with amorphous silicon-carbon (a-SiC) i-layers where the density of metastable centers is very high (> 1018cm-3). When we light-soaked a-SiC cells and then subjected them to low-temperature reverse bias annealing, they exhibited clear evidence of improved short-wavelength response after a second light soaking. These annealing effects are explained in terms of hydrogen motion within the a-Si network and within microvoids.