The influence of U.V. light on the transport properties of a-Si : H films during its growth in a r.f. double chamber system was investigated by conductivity, optical absorption, I.R. absorption, spectral photoconductivity and X-ray diffraction measurements. It was concluded that the presence of U.V. light during the deposition process controls the way how hydrogen is incorporated in the structure as well as the impurity atoms. The microcrystalline films investigated present sharp peaks in the I.R. spectra. Both boron and phosphorus doped films show conductivities higher than 10 S cm-1 and estimated crystalline sizes of the order of 80 Å. © 1987.

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Doped and undoped a-Si:H and a-SiC:H films were deposited by R. F. decomposition of silane and silane/methane mixtures respectively, in a two consecutive (decomposition and deposition) chambers glow discharge capacitively coupled system. Their electro-optical properties were extensively investigated through dark conductivity, photoconductivity, spectral response, optical absorption, R. F. transmission spectra, electron spin ressonance and CxV MOS measurements.

A double-chamber system was used to deposit large-area hydrogenated amorphous silicon films for photovoltaic applications. The electro-optical characterisation of films of area 400 cm2 deposited on glass substrates is described in this paper. The deposition rate of the films is dependent on the r.f. power delivered, the substrate bias and the partial pressure of the reactive gas. The film thickness was observed to have a uniformity of better than 0.5%. The best film quality was obtained for a deposition rate of about 1.5 Å s-1. The optical gap, activation energy, photosensitivity, density of gap states and hydrogen content were determined. © 1985.

Amorphous Silicon solar cells have been produced by a two consecutive decomposition and deposition chamber system, using polished S. S. substrates. Through a systematic investigation of the electrical and optical properties of doped and undoped amorphous silicon layers (1) we observe that the deposition conditions (gas partial pressure, density of r. f. power, substrate temperature, electromagnetic static fields applied to the substrate, and gas flow rate) influence films properties. In the course of this investigation we have been studying the role of the sheet resistance, R//s, of the I. T. O. layer on the short circuit current, I//s//c, and on the open circuit voltage, V//o//c, of p. i. n. structures of 16cm**2 in area. The obtained results indicate that V//o//c is almost independent on R//s, while I//s//c variation approaches a square root dependence on R//s.

This new production technique is based on the growth of a-Si films on a reactor where gas decomposition promoted by a capacitively coupled r. f. power system takes place in a chamber separated from that where amorphous films are deposited under the action of an electromagnetic static field. Using this method, we shall reduce films contamination caused by the residual gas desorbed from reactor walls. At the same time, there is a reduction plasma ion and electron damages on the deposited films. The main species impinging upon our substrates will be mainly composed of long life radicals with high mobilities and high diffusion rates, which will give origin to a random silicon network free of long poly-silane chains.

The current transport in metal-amorphous semiconductor barriers is examined by solving the proper Poisson's equation and transport equations within the semiconductor's space charge region taking into account the role of trap shallow states distribution function. The effect of metal is also included through appropriate boundary conditions of the above solutions. Generalized transport equations will be derived either when thermionic drift-diffusion emission process dominates or when the conduction mechanism is mainly due to drift-diffusion emission. Both situations will be analysed with or without neglecting carriers losses during their collision free path, from which a tractable expression for the current-voltage characteristic will be determined.

This paper deals with the interpretation of transport properties of amorphous silicon hydrogenated films (a-Si:H) through dark conductivity, photoconductivity and pulse controlled capacitance-voltage measurements. a-Si:H films were produced by rf glow discharge coupled either inductively or capacitively to a 3% SiH4/Ar mixture at different crossed electromagnetic static fields. The data concerned with the dark activation energy, photoactivation energy, variation of the density of localized states and photosensitivity, (σph/σd)25°C, of a-Si:H films can account for their optoelectronic properties which are strongly dependent on the deposition parameters. We also observed that crossed electromagnetic static fields applied during film formation influences hydrogen incorporation in a different manner than previously proposed. © 1983.