Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1676176 Thin Solid Films 2006 4 Pages PDF
Abstract

We present a characterisation of the photoelectronic properties of a series of microcrystalline silicon samples which were deposited by hot-wire chemical vapour deposition and had a range of crystallinity from high-crystalline volume fraction to amorphous nature. Samples were characterised by dark and photocurrent measurements and by application of the steady-state photocarrier grating technique. Similarities exist for the temperature-dependent photoconductivity between microcrystalline silicon and hydrogenated amorphous silicon samples with respect to the observation of thermal quenching on the one hand side and its absence for samples, more n-type in character, on the other hand side. The minority carrier diffusion length of the microcrystalline samples does hardly change with temperature which indicates a steeper distribution of valence band tail states. We also cover metastability issues with respect to changes in the conductive properties upon light-induced degradation and exposure to air or water.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Materials Science Nanotechnology
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