Metastability effects in hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon thin films investigated by the dual beam photoconductivity method

Abstract

Metastability effects in microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si:H) thin films have been investigated using dark conductivity, sigma(D), photoconductivity, sigma(ph), and sub-bandgap absorption methods. Nitrogen and inert gasses can cause reversible aging effect in conductivities but not in the sub-bandgap absorption. However. DI water and O-2 gas treatment result in both reversible and nonreversible effects in conductivities as well as in the sub-bandgap absorption. Only oxygen affected the dark conductivity reversibly in amorphous silicon, a-Si:H, films, other results were unaffected from the aging and annealing processes applied. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.