Stability and hole-transport in a-Si:H prepared by “Chemical Annealing”

Abstract

Photoconductive and stable hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films have been made by a novel preparation technique termed “Chemical Annealing” (CA) at substrate temperature above 300C. A significant enhancement in the drift mobility of holes up to 0.2 cm2/Vs was confirmed by Time-of-Flight experiment in the film with CH:5 at% and Eg:1.6 eV prepared at 300C. Through the study of the film deposition by CA with atomic hydrogen or excited noble gases, He*, Ne* and Ar*, it was found that the dangling bond formation process was tightly correlated with the structural relaxation on the growing surface.