Dependence of Steady-State Defect Density in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon on Carrier Generation Rate Studied Over a Wide Range

1993 ◽  
Vol 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuhiro Hata ◽  
Gautam Ganguly ◽  
Akihisa Matsuda

Measurements of the steady-state defect density (Nst) in hydrogenated amorphous silicon under illumination of pulse-laser light, as well as of continuous light, were carried out; and the dependence of Nst on the effective rate of carrier generation (G) is presented. The values of G ranged from 8 x 1021 to 2.4 × 1023 cm-3 s-1, while the illumination temperature was kept at 30 °C or at 105 °C. The results showed trends of Nst increasing with G similarly to the trends in the literature, but covered a higher and wider G range, and fitted a defect model which assumes a limited number of possible defect states.

2008 ◽  
Vol 1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihong Jiao ◽  
C. R. Wronski

ABSTRACTAn enhanced simulation model based on the carrier recombination through these states was developed to characterize the gap defect states in hydrogenated amorphous silicon materials (a-Si:H). The energy dependent density of electron occupied gap states, kN(E), was derived directly from Dual Beam Photoconductivity (DBP) measurements at different bias currents. Through Gaussian de-convolution of kN(E), the energy peaks of the multiple defect states, including both neutral and charged states, were obtained. These energy levels, together with the information on the capture cross sections, were used as known input parameters to self-consistently fit the subgap absorption spectra, the electron mobility-lifetime products over a wide range of generation rates, as well as the energy dependent density of electron occupied gap state spectra. Accurate gap state information was obtained and the nature of the defect states was studied. Simulation results on light degraded hydrogen diluted, protocrystalline a-Si:H show that the density of charged states is 2.3 times that of neutral states. The two states close to the midgap act as effective recombination centers at low generation rates and play key roles in photoconductivity studies.


1997 ◽  
Vol 467 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Hata ◽  
T. Kamei ◽  
H. Okamoto ◽  
A. Matsuda

ABSTRACTExperimental results on structural change other than defect creation upon light-soaking of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) are reported. A-Si:H films were light-soaked with laser pulses or with continuous (cw) light to steady-states, and then annealed at 170 °C in vacuum. The changes in electro-absorption (EA) signal, and defect density (Nd) from subgap absorption were measured as functions of light-soaking/annealing time. The results are: (1) EA ratio, which is defined as the ratio of anisotropie to isotropie components in EA signal, increases upon light-soaking with a time constant shorter by almost two orders of magnitude than that for Nd increase, and (2) shows saturation when extensively light-soaked. (3) The saturated values of EA ratio are comparable for both pulsed and cw light-soaking. (4) Both the EA ratio and Nd show recovery to the values in the annealed states. It is suggested that light-soaking causes a structural change in a short time, as manifested by EA ratio, and this changed structure works as the pathway leading to the defect creation. Thermal annealing is also discussed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Hwan Yoon

Intrinsic deep defect-related recombination process has been studied in a series of undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon(a-Si:H) films grown under different deposition conditions. Steady-state photoconductivity (σph) was measured as a function of deep defect density Nd, Urbach energy Eu, and dark Fermi energy Ef. It was found that σph strongly depends on these parameters while Ef- stays at the energy levels lower than 0.82 eV below Ec, but it is nearly independent of those while Ef stays at above 0.82 eV. These behaviors were found to be independent of the sample deposition conditions. These results indicates that subgap defect states enclosed by E=0.82 eV and Ef are the dominant recombination centers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
F. X. Abomo Abega ◽  
A. Teyou Ngoupo ◽  
J. M. B. Ndjaka

Numerical modelling is used to confirm experimental and theoretical work. The aim of this work is to present how to simulate ultrathin hydrogenated amorphous silicon- (a-Si:H-) based solar cells with a ITO BRL in their architectures. The results obtained in this study come from SCAPS-1D software. In the first step, the comparison between the J-V characteristics of simulation and experiment of the ultrathin a-Si:H-based solar cell is in agreement. Secondly, to explore the impact of certain properties of the solar cell, investigations focus on the study of the influence of the intrinsic layer and the buffer layer/absorber interface on the electrical parameters ( J SC , V OC , FF, and η ). The increase of the intrinsic layer thickness improves performance, while the bulk defect density of the intrinsic layer and the surface defect density of the buffer layer/ i -(a-Si:H) interface, respectively, in the ranges [109 cm-3, 1015 cm-3] and [1010 cm-2, 5 × 10 13  cm-2], do not affect the performance of the ultrathin a-Si:H-based solar cell. Analysis also shows that with approximately 1 μm thickness of the intrinsic layer, the optimum conversion efficiency is 12.71% ( J SC = 18.95   mA · c m − 2 , V OC = 0.973   V , and FF = 68.95 % ). This work presents a contribution to improving the performance of a-Si-based solar cells.


1993 ◽  
Vol 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hitoshi Nishio ◽  
Gautam Ganguly ◽  
Akihisa Matsuda

We present a method to reduce the defect density in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited at low substrate temperatures similar to those used for device fabrication . Film-growth precursors are energized by a heated mesh to enhance their surface diffusion coefficient and this enables them to saturate more surface dangling bonds.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document