One-dimensional simulation study of microcrystalline silicon thin films for solar cell and thin film transistor applications using AMPS-1D

Electronic transport in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films largely depends on size and shape of small crystallites columnar grains, the fraction of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) matrix, and the highly defective grain boundaries (GBs). Based on these we describe two simple 1-D models of μc-Si:H depending upon the conduction path. Two applications of these models are presented using AMPS-1D. First, we study the electronic transport in intrinsic μc-Si:H for thin-film transistor (TFT) application. Second, we analyze the performance of thin film p-i-n μc-Si:H solar cells with varying column heights in the intrinsic μc-Si:H layer. Such a study should lead to the identification of optimum process conditions of the preparation of these films by the Cat-CVD process.