Some properties of evaporated amorphous silicon made with atomic hydrogen

Abstract

We describe measurements on a-Si films made by adding atomic hydrogen during evaporation of silicon. The material has conductivity comparable to that formed by silane decomposition and is also photoconducting. The photocurrent in these initial experiments is smaller than in the bes silane-produced films.

Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules

“…Sputtering in a partial pressure of hydrogen, electron beam deposition, inductively coupled plasma deposition, and many other techniques are also being pursued in different laboratories (Goto et al, 1997;Miller et al, 1978;Moustakas et al, 1985;Nuruddin et al, 1992;Shimizu et al, 1986). 6.08.3 Material Properties 6.08.3.1 Hydrogen Dilution Below the Edge (Amorphous Regime) 6.08.3.1.1 Film structure The first systematic investigation of the effect of hydrogen dilution on the structure of a-Si:H alloys was carried out by Tsu et al (1997) using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The TEM results showed that embedded in the amorphous matrix are chain-like objects (CLOs) Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a load-lock multichamber system with a loading chamber (L), N chamber, I chamber, P chamber, and unload chamber (U).…”

Amorphous Silicon‐Based Solar Cells

“…Beside PECVD and HW deposition methods, other deposition processes have been explored for depositing a-Si films. These include (1) reactive sputter deposition from silicon targets using a mixture of hydrogen and argon [99,100]; (2) e-beam evaporation, assisted with various hydrogenation methods [101,102], (3) spontaneous chemical vapor deposition [103], (4) photo-CVD [70,71] using ultraviolet excitation and mercury sensitization, (5) remote plasma chemical vapor deposition [104], (6) electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave deposition [105,106], (7) pulsed laser deposition [107,108], and (8) gas jet deposition [109]. Most of these deposition methods yield poorer a-Si films or solar cells compared with RF PECVD deposited films and devices, and therefore, are not (or not yet) used in large-scale a-Si PV production.…”

Amorphous Silicon–Based Solar Cells

“…These include (1) reactive sputter deposition from silicon targets using a mixture of hydrogen and argon [99,100]; (2) e-beam evaporation, assisted with various hydrogenation methods [101,102], (3) spontaneous chemical vapor deposition [103], (4) photo-CVD [70,71] using ultraviolet excitation and mercury sensitization, (5) remote plasma chemical vapor deposition [104], (6) electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave deposition [105,106], (7) pulsed laser deposition [107,108], and (8) gas jet deposition [109]. Most of these deposition methods yield poorer a-Si films or solar cells compared with RF PECVD deposited films and devices, and therefore, are not (or not yet) used in large-scale a-Si PV production.…”