Transient Photoconductivity Study of the Distribution of Gap States in 100°C VHF-deposited Hydrogenated Silicon Layers

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe energy distribution of gap states has been examined by means of transient photocurrent measurements in a series of 100°C VHF-deposited Si:H samples that spans the amorphous to microcrystalline transition. The ‘amorphous’ distribution, consisting of a continuous background and a prominent dangling-bond-induced peak, remains largely intact across the transition. The transport path located at the conduction band edge in a-Si:H, some 0.63 eV above the dangling bond D− energy, moves down to ∼0.55 eV above the corresponding D− level in the microcrystalline samples.