Metastability of Light-Induced Defects in Very Low Density of Gap States α- Si1-αCα:H Alloys

1992 ◽  
Vol 258 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sebastiani ◽  
P. Fiorini ◽  
F. Alvarez ◽  
F. Pozzilli ◽  
O. Pulci ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWe have prepared silicon carbon alloys with Tauc's gap of 2.1 eV, low defect density (≃ 3–1015cm-3) and large photoconductivity (αPhoto/αdark=105 in AM 1.5 illumination). On these samples light soaking induces a large number of metastable gap defects which are annealed out at 250 °C. We have studied the kinetics of defect formation varying the duration of light exposure and the light intensity. The experimental data are consistent with a bond breaking model (conversion of tail weak bonds into dangling bonds), provided that the actual occupation of tail states is taken into account.

1991 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo V. Santos ◽  
W. B. Jackson ◽  
R. A. Street

ABSTRACTThe kinetics of light-induced defect generation in a-Si:H was investigated over a wide range of illumination intensities and temperatures. The defect density around 1016cm-3 exhibits a power-law time dependence Ns ∼ G2εfε with ε = 0.2 to 0.3, where G is the photo-carrier generation rate. A model for the kinetics of defect generation is proposed based on the existence of an exponential distribution of defect formation energies in the amorphous network, associated with the valence band tail states. The model reproduces the observed time dependence of the defect density with an exponent e determined by the exponential width of the valence band tail. The temperature dependence of the defect generation rate is well-reproduced by the model, which provides a connection between the Stabler-Wronski effect and the weak-bond model.


1997 ◽  
Vol 467 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Morgado ◽  
M. Rebelo da Silva ◽  
R. T. Henriques

ABSTRACTMetastable defects have been created by light exposure in thin films of a-Si:H. The samples have been characterized by Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy, Electron Spin Resonance, dark- and photo-conductivity. The experimental results are consistent with numerical calculations with a recombination model involving band tails and one class of correlated dangling-bond states. The effects of light-soaking on the ligh intensity and defect density dependences of photoconductivity are reproduced by the calculations. The model allows to explain the experimental trends by changes in the electronic occupation of the gap states produced by light-induced defects.


2004 ◽  
Vol 808 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Pearce ◽  
J. Deng ◽  
V. Vlahos ◽  
R. W. Collins ◽  
C. R. Wronski ◽  
...  

A study has been carried out on the evolution of light induced defects in protocrystalline (diluted) a-Si:H films under 1 sun illumination. A room temperature reversal is observed in the photocurrents at 25°C, which is consistent with the relaxation in the recombination currents on corresponding p-i-n solar cells. It is also consistent with the pressure of “fast” states such as have been observed after high intensity illumination. Even with the limitations imposed by the relaxation in the light induced changes on the subgap absorption measurements, the evolution of distinctly different gap states centered around 0.9 and 1.15eV from the conduction band was identified. The kinetics of the electron occupied states, kN(E), at these two energies is compared with that of the neutral dangling bond (D0) densities as measured with electron spin resonance. Because of the similarity between the preliminary results of these kinetics it has not been possible to identify which states correspond to the D0 nor to draw any reliable conclusions about the nature of the different states.


1995 ◽  
Vol 377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiming Li ◽  
R. Biswas

ABSTRACTMolecular dynamics with the tight-binding approach are utilized to examine the fundamental process of dangling bond creation via the rebonding of H from Si-H bonds to weak Si-Si bonds. The defect formation energy is found to strongly correlate with the bond-length of the weak Si-Si bond, indicating that the distribution of weak Si-Si bonds controls the total defect density. Rate equations for thermally generated and light-induced defects are developed and utilized to calculate the equilibrium and saturated defect density. The results agree well with experimental data.


1992 ◽  
Vol 258 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Benatar ◽  
M. Grimbergen ◽  
A. Fahrenbruch ◽  
A. Lopez-Otero ◽  
D. Redfield ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTData are presented here that show the effects of temperature on the kinetics of metastable defect formation in undoped a-Si:H over the range 45°-110°C. CPM (Constant Photocurrent Method), photoconductivity, and dark conductivity measurements were made and provide independent checks of the defect generation behavior. A stretched exponential description of defect formation as a function of time was used to fit the CPM defect density data. The stretched exponential time constant, τSE, is thermally activated with an apparent activation energy of 1 eV, a value that agrees well with data for defect anneal and solar cell degradation. The data indicate that thermal terms are not negligible for temperatures as low as 45°C, and therefore should be included in any model of the kinetics of defect formation. The role of adistribution of anneal energies and the regimes of dominance of thermal and optical rate terms are discussed in the context of the model.


1996 ◽  
Vol 420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiming li ◽  
R. Biswas

AbstractA model of metastable defect formation via H-rebonding in hydrogenated amorphous silicon is developed where the defect density and defect formation energy are controlled by the bond-length disorder of the material. Dangling bond defects are created by H motion from SiH bonds to weak Si-Si bonds. The model predicts formation energies for thermal and light-induced defects in good agreement with experiment. The relaxation of thermal equilibrium defects is stretched exponential, with stretch parameters varying approximately linearly with temperature and relaxation times that are thermally activated- in good agreement with experiment. The annealing of light-induced defect densities also shows relaxation behavior. The model accounts for barriers of ≈ 1.5 eV for H diffusion. The energetics of the H*2 complex will also be discussed. The rms bond-length deviation is a new parameter that controls the quality of the material.


Author(s):  
H. Watanabe ◽  
B. Kabius ◽  
B. Roas ◽  
K. Urban

Recently it was reported that the critical current density(Jc) of YBa2Cu2O7, in the presence of magnetic field, is enhanced by ion irradiation. The enhancement is thought to be due to the pinning of the magnetic flux lines by radiation-induced defects or by structural disorder. The aim of the present study was to understand the fundamental mechanisms of the defect formation in association with the pinning effect in YBa2Cu3O7 by means of high-resolution electron microscopy(HRTEM).The YBa2Cu3O7 specimens were prepared by laser ablation in an insitu process. During deposition, a substrate temperature and oxygen atmosphere were kept at about 1073 K and 0.4 mbar, respectively. In this way high quality epitaxially films can be obtained with the caxis parallel to the <100 > SrTiO3 substrate normal. The specimens were irradiated at a temperature of 77 K with 173 MeV Xe ions up to a dose of 3.0 × 1016 m−2.


2021 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 101184
Author(s):  
Sairam Pamulaparthi Venkata ◽  
Kunpeng Cui ◽  
Jingyi Guo ◽  
Alan T. Zehnder ◽  
Jian Ping Gong ◽  
...  

2001 ◽  
Vol 664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Heck ◽  
Howard M. Branz

ABSTRACTWe report experimental results that help settle apparent inconsistencies in earlier work on photoconductivity and light-induced defects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and point toward a new understanding of this subject. After observing that light-induced photoconductivity degradation anneals out at much lower T than the light-induced increase in deep defect density, Han and Fritzsche[1] suggested that two kinds of defects are created during illumination of a-Si:H. In this view, one kind of defect degrades the photoconductivity and the other increases defect sub-bandgap optical absorption. However, the light-induced degradation model of Stutzmann et al.[2] assumes that photoconductivity is inversely proportional to the dangling-bond defect density. We observe two kinds of defects that are distinguished by their annealing activation energies, but because their densities remain in strict linear proportion during their creation, the two kinds of defects cannot be completely independent.In our measurements of photoconductivity and defect absorption (constant photocurrent method) during 25°C light soaking and during a series of isochronal anneals between 25 < T < 190°C, we find that the absorption measured with E ≤1.1 eV, first increases during annealing, then exhibits the usual absorption decrease found for deeper defects. The maximum in this absorption at E ≤1.1eV occurs simultaneously with a transition from fast to slow recovery of photoconductivity. The absorption for E ≤1.1eV shows two distinct annealing activation energies: the signal rises with about 0.87 eV and falls with about 1.15 eV. The 0.87 eV activation energy roughly equals the activation energy for the dominant, fast, recovery of photoconductivity. The 1.15 eV activation energy roughly equals the single activation energy for annealing of the light-induced dangling bond absorption.


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