Comparative study of electro-physical properties of heterostructures containing PECVD nanocrystalline and anodic porous silicon layers

We performed a comparative study of the electro-physical properties of heterostructures containing PECVD nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) and electro-chemically etched porous silicon (PS) layers over a wide range of thicknesses, in terms of their energy parameters. Based on the proposed analytical expressions and the experimental current–voltage and capacitance–voltage characteristics, we studied the characteristics of the surface states at the nc-Si(or PS) interfaces in Pd-nc-Si(or PS)-p-Si heterostructures. The results revealed that the surface states play an essential role in the carrier transport in both types of heterostructures that were investigated.