DEPENDENCE OF THE OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF CHEMICALLY ANNEALED VACUUM-DEPOSITED a-Si:H FILMS ON THE DEPOSITION RATE

The influence of the deposition rate of chemically annealed vacuum-deposited a-Si : H films on its optical and electrical properties was studied. The optical parameters were studied using spectrophotometric measurements of the film transmittance in the wavelength range 200–3000 nm. It was found that with increasing the silicon deposition rate from 0.09 to 0.23 nm/s, the refractive index, n, decreases from 3.78 to 3.45 at 1.5 μm, and the optical energy gap, Eg, decreases from 1.74 to 1.66 eV, while the Urbach parameter, ΔE, increases from 77 to 99 meV. The dark conductivity was measured at temperatures descending from 480 to 170 K. It was found that the room temperature dark conductivity values decreased from 1.11 × 10-6 (Ω⋅ cm )-1 to 2.08 × 10-10 (Ω⋅ cm )-1 with increasing the deposition rate from 0.09 to 0.23 nm/s respectively, while the activation energy Ea increased from 0.53 to 0.84 eV with increasing deposition rate. As a result, a good quality a-Si : H film with optical energy gap of 1.74 eV, Urbach parameter of 77 meV, dark conductivity of 1.11 × 10-6 (Ω⋅ cm )-1, and activation energy of 0.53 eV was successfully prepared at a low deposition rate of 0.09 nm/s.