Metastable dark and photoconductive properties of microcrystalline silicon

Brüggemann, R.; Souffi, N.

doi:10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2005.11.089

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(17 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We can compare our results with those achieved previously for a series of c-Si: H, 82 doped samples of a-Si: H ͑Ref. 73͒ and c-Si: H, 4 or with the degradation of the doped c-Si: H. [83][84][85] In Fig. 4 Fig.…”

Section: E Photoconductivity and Defects In C-si: H Doped With Psupporting

confidence: 52%

Relationship between defect density and charge carrier transport in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The influence of dangling-bond defects and the position of the Fermi level on the charge carrier transport properties in undoped and phosphorous doped thin-film silicon with structure compositions all the way from highly crystalline to amorphous is investigated. The dangling-bond density is varied reproducibly over several orders of magnitude by electron bombardment and subsequent annealing. The defects are investigated by electron-spin-resonance and photoconductivity spectroscopies. Comparing intrinsic amorphous and microcrystalline silicon, it is found that the relationship between defect density and photoconductivity is different in both undoped materials, while a similar strong influence of the position of the Fermi level on photoconductivity via the charge carrier lifetime is found in the doped materials. The latter allows a quantitative determination of the value of the transport gap energy in microcrystalline silicon. The photoconductivity in intrinsic microcrystalline silicon is, on one hand, considerably less affected by the bombardment but, on the other hand, does not generally recover with annealing of the defects and is independent from the spin density which itself can be annealed back to the as-deposited level. For amorphous silicon and material prepared close to the crystalline growth regime, the results for nonequilibrium transport fit perfectly to a recombination model based on direct capture into neutral dangling bonds over a wide range of defect densities. For the heterogeneous microcrystalline silicon, this model fails completely. The application of photoconductivity spectroscopy in the constant photocurrent mode ͑CPM͒ is explored for the entire structure composition range over a wide variation in defect densities. For amorphous silicon previously reported linear correlation between the spin density and the subgap absorption is confirmed for defect densities below 10 18 cm −3 . Beyond this defect level, a sublinear relation is found i.e., not all spin-detected defects are also visible in the CPM spectra. Finally, the evaluation of CPM spectra in defect-rich microcrystalline silicon shows complete absence of any correlation between spindetected defects and subband gap absorption determined from CPM: a result which casts considerable doubt on the usefulness of this technique for the determination of defect densities in microcrystalline silicon. The result can be related to the inhomogeneous structure of microcrystalline silicon with its consequences on transport and recombination processes.

show abstract

Section: E Photoconductivity and Defects In C-si: H Doped With Psupporting

confidence: 52%

Relationship between defect density and charge carrier transport in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By atmospheric adsorption, the dark conductivity can be either decreased or increased. It has been postulated that the decrease (increase) is related to the electron acceptor (donor) such as oxygen (water) molecules adsorbed on the surface of the film, within cracks or at grain boundaries [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. The adsorption ofelectron acceptor (donor) molecules will create upward (downward) band-bending and thereby establish depletion (accumulation) layer at the surface, which will result in a decrease (increase) in conductivity.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since it is non-dissociative, the distribution of activation energy for adsorption is not expected. The atmospheric aging effect depends on the microstructure of the films [3,6,7]. The interaction of a molecule with a given surface will be dependent upon the physical and chemical environment of surface.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

New Findings and Interpretation on Atmospheric Adsorption Induced Instability in Microcrystalline Silicon Films

Lim

Park

2014

IJMSA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:In this investigation, we added some new findings and interpretations on the behaviors of both electrical conductivities and optical absorption spectra upon adsorption of atmospheric molecules in microcrystalline silicon films (µc-Si:H). The photo conductivity followed similar decay-recover processes upon air exposure-thermal anneal cycles as did the dark conductivity. The dark and photo conductivities decay according to a stretched-exponential function with time upon air exposure. The absorption spectra showed a reduced defect absorption for the films at air exposed state compared with those of at thermal annealed state. There is a one-to-one correspondence between atmospheric adsorption in µc-Si:H and bias-stress induced instabilities in a-Si:H thin film transistors(TFTs).

show abstract

“…The effects of ambient atmosphere (referred to as ageing) on the electronic properties of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon films have been the subject of recent studies [6][7][8][9]. Both reversible and irreversible effects may occur [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermally stimulated currents in thin silicon films arising from atmospheric effects without light exposure

Smirnov

Reynolds

Main

et al. 2008

Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Metastable dark and photoconductive properties of microcrystalline silicon

Cited by 9 publications

References 12 publications

Relationship between defect density and charge carrier transport in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon

Relationship between defect density and charge carrier transport in amorphous and microcrystalline silicon

New Findings and Interpretation on Atmospheric Adsorption Induced Instability in Microcrystalline Silicon Films

Thermally stimulated currents in thin silicon films arising from atmospheric effects without light exposure

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About