The field effect in amorphous chalcogenides: An investigation of localized states and electronic transport

The temperature dependence of the field effect response permits an unambiguous determination of the identity of those states responsible for electrostatic screening in the amorphous chalcogenides. We observe (1) in As₂Te₃, field effect screening by localized states at the Fermi level at low temperatures (～ 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1) and by mobile charge carriers (～ 10¹⁸ cm^?3 at 300 K) at high temperatures, and a transition from p-type to two-carrier (primarily n-type) conductivity as the temperature is raised above ～320 K; (2) in As₂SeTe₂, screening by mobile charge carriers (～ 10¹⁸ cm^?3 at 300 K) with strongly type conductivity; (3) in As₂Se₂Te, screening by localized states at the Fermi level (～ 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1) with strongly p-type conductivity; and (4) in Sb₂Te₃, a very high density of localized states at the Fermi level (～ 2 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 eV^?1) with both electron and hole contributions to the conductivity. Correlation with thermoelectric power results suggests that the p-type conductivity in As₂Te₃ is due to near-equal contributions from two processes: hopping in localized states plus extended state conduction. Aging and annealing behavior is described with the aid of a “chaotic potential model” that appears to be able to account for large changes in mobile carrier density that leave the conductivity unaltered.     

Electrical conduction in amorphous WO3 films

Measurements are reported on the dc and ac conductivity and dielectric constant for vacuum-deposited films of tungsten trioxide. The behaviour is consistent with that expected for hopping conduction in an amorphous solid containing long-range potential centres associated with oxygen vacancies. A new method of calculating the density of states gives N(E) ～ 5.0 × 10²⁰ eV^?1 cm^?3.     

High field effects in amorphous germanium

Measurements of high field current have been made on amorphous Ge (a-Ge) films over the temperature range from 100 to 300 K. Non-ohmic conduction in a-Ge occurs at electric fields greater than 1–2 × 10⁴ V/cm. Field dependence of the conductivity has been explained in terms of the enhanced emission probability of carriers from the screened coulombic trap centers. Assuming the optical dielectric constant for a-Ge films, the screening length of the trap centers and the density of states at the Fermi level are estimated to be 12 Å and ～6.1 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 eV^?1, respectively.     

Study of amorphous Ge–SiO2–P+Si tunnel junctions

A new method to determine ac conductivity of amorphous Ge using Al-amorphous Ge–SiO₂–P⁺Si tunnel junctions is presented. Frequency dependence of ac conductivity is found to satisfy the power law in the frequency range between 1 and 50 kHz and the density of localized states at the Fermi level is estimated to be ～ 1.7 × 10²⁰ cm^?3 eV^?1 which decreases to ～ 4.5 × 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1 after annealing at 175°C.Temperature dependence of tunneling conductance of Al-amorphous Ge–SiO₂–P⁺Si junctions is appreciable only near zero bias. Zero bias conductance of the junctions obeys the $\text{T}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}$ law of Mott; the density of localized states obtained from the $\text{T}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}$ law is one order of magnitude smaller than that obtained by ac conductivity measurements, being insensitive to annealing. This behavior of the tunnel junctions differes in many respects from those of Al–Al₂O₃-amorphous Ge tunnel juntions.     

The validity of the double layer model on the amorphous semiconductor surface including the bulk localized state within the gap

Under the two assumptions that the origin of surface states may be different from that of bulk localized states within the gap and the density of surface states is sufficiently high, the validity of the double layer model on the amorphous semiconductor surface is investigated in comparison with the case of a crystal. It is suggested that the criteria concerning the double layer should be determined by the relative value of the surface states to that of bulk localized states. The existence of the double layer can be confirmed when the bulk localized state density n(E_f) is smaller than 10¹⁹ cm^?3 eV^?1. When n(E_f) is high at about 10²⁰ cm^?3 eV^?1, surface states cannot be distinguished from the localized states within the gap. This double layer model is strongly supported by the results of previous experiments by others who have measured the dependence of the Schottky barrier height on the work function of metal and the dependence of the surface potential on the preparation conditions of a-SiH.     

Some new results on transport and density of state distribution in glow discharge microcrystalline silicon

The electronic properties of the material are discussed on the basis of the grain boundary trapping model proposed for polycrystalline Si. In spite of the difference in crystallite sizes it is shown that the model is applicable, leading to 10¹¹ cm^?2 filled states between crystallites. Gap state densities between 2 × 10¹⁸ and 4 × 10¹⁸cm^?3eV^?1 are deduced from field effect measurements.     

Study of the surface state density and potential in MIS diode Schottky using the surface photovoltage method

ABSTRACT

The effects of surface preparation and illumination on electric parameters of Au/GaN/GaAs Schottky diode were investigated. The thin GaN film is realized by nitridation of GaAs substrates with different thicknesses of GaN layers (0.7 – 2.2 nm). In order to study the electrical characteristics under illumination, we use an He-Ne laser of 632 nm wavelength. The I(V) current- voltage, the surface photovltage SPV measurement were plotted and analysed taking into consideration the influence of charge exchange between a continuum of the surface states and the semiconductor. The barrier height Ф_Bn, the serial resistance R_s and the ideality factor n are respectively equal to 0.66 eV, 1980 Ω, 2.75 under dark and to 0.65 eV, 1160 Ω, 2.74 under illumination for simple 1 (GaN theckness of 0.7 nm). The interface states density N_ss in the gap and the excess of concentration δn are determined by fitting the experimental curves of the surface photovltage SPV with the theoretical ones and are equal to 4.5×10¹² eV^?1 cm^?2, 5×10⁷ cm^?3, respectively, for sample 1 and 3.5×10¹² eV^?1 cm^?2, 7×10⁸ cm^?3 for sample 2 (GaN theckness of 2 nm). The results confirm that the surface photovoltage is an efficient method for optical and electrical characterizations.     

Study of microdefects in GaAs:Si single crystals grown by the vertical gradient freeze method

Microdefects in Si-doped GaAs single crystals grown by the vertical gradient freeze method have been studied with X-ray diffuse scattering. In the case of doping to majority carrier concentrations n ～ 1 × 10¹⁸ cm^?3, large microdefects with positive dilatation that accompany the initial stage of arsenic precipitation at high temperatures were observed. It is shown that GaAs samples heavily doped with silicon (n ～ 3 × 10¹⁸ cm^?3) contain large (several micrometers) interstitial microdefects, which can play the role of nucleation regions for new SiAs and SiAs₂ phases.     

Impurities in thin-film silicon: Influence on material properties and solar cell performance

The influence of oxygen and nitrogen impurities on the material properties of a-Si:H and μc-Si:H films and on the corresponding solar cell performances was studied. For intentional contamination of the i-layer the impurities were inserted by two contamination sources: (i) directly into the plasma through a leak at the chamber wall or (ii) into the gas supply line. The critical oxygen and nitrogen concentrations for silicon solar cells were determined as the lowest concentration of these impurities in the i-layer causing a deterioration of the cell performance. Similar critical concentrations for a-Si:H and μc-Si:H cells in the range of 4–6 × 10¹⁸ cm^? 3 for nitrogen and 1–5 × 10¹⁹ cm^? 3 for oxygen by applying a chamber leak are observed. Similar increase of conductivity with increasing impurity concentration in the a-Si:H and μc-Si:H films is found. A more detailed study shows that the critical oxygen concentration depends on the contamination source and the deposition parameters. For a-Si:H cells, the application of the gas pipe leak leads to an increased critical oxygen concentration to 2 × 10²⁰ cm^? 3. Such an effect was not observed for nitrogen. For μc-Si:H, a new deposition regime with reduced discharge power was found where the application of the gas pipe leak can also result in an increase of the oxygen concentration to 1 × 10²⁰ cm^? 3.     

Voids in hydrogenated amorphous silicon materials

Effusion measurements of hydrogen and of implanted helium are used to characterize the presence of voids in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) materials as a function of substrate temperature, hydrogen content, etc. For undoped plasma-grown a-Si:H, interconnected voids are found to prevail at hydrogen concentrations exceeding 15–20 at.%, while isolated voids which act as helium traps appear at hydrogen concentrations ≤ 15 at.%. The concentration of such isolated voids is estimated to some 10¹⁸/cm³ for device-grade undoped a-Si:H deposited at a substrate temperature near 200 °C. Higher values are found for, e.g., doped material, hot wire grown a-Si:H and hydrogen-implanted crystalline Si. The results do not support recent suggestions of predominant incorporation of hydrogen in a-Si:H in (crystalline silicon type) divacancies, since such models predict a concentration of voids (which act as helium traps) in the range of 10²¹/cm³ and a correlation between void and hydrogen concentrations which is not observed.     

Influence of density of states on optical properties of GaSe thin film

A systematic investigation on the effect of substrate temperature on the structure, optical absorption and density of states of vacuum evaporated gallium monoselenide (GaSe) thin films is reported. The X‐ray diffraction analysis shows an occurrence of amorphous to polycrystalline transformation in the films deposited at higher‐temperature substrates (573K). The compositional analysis is made with Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). The thickness of the film (175nm) is measured by a multiple beam interferometery. Optical characteristics of the GaSe sample have been analyzed using spectrophotometer in the photon energy range of 1.0 ‐ 4 eV. The absorption mechanism has been recognized and the allowed indirect as well as forbidden direct transitions have been found. As‐deposited films show two indirect and allowed transitions due to spin‐orbit splitting of the valence band, as reported here for the first time. Low field conduction have enabled us to determine the density of states in amorphous and poly‐GaSe films. The amorphous and polycrystalline GaSe thin films have localized states density values of N (E_F) = 1.686 × 10¹⁷ cm^‐3 eV^‐1 and 1.257 × 10¹⁵ cm^‐3 eV^‐1 respectively. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of variations in the density of localized states due to progressive decrease of the unsaturated bonds during deposition. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Investigation of gap states in phosphorous-doped ultra-thin a-Si:H by near-UV photoelectron spectroscopy

A variant of photoelectron spectroscopy with near-UV light excitation was established and applied to an n-type doping series of ultra-thin a-Si:H layers (layer thickness ～10 nm). Using this technique, the position of the surface Fermi level E_Fs is obtained and the density of recombination active defect states in the a-Si:H band gap down to ～10¹⁵ states/cm³ can be detected. Defect densities are generally about one order of magnitude higher than in the bulk of thicker (several 100 nm) layers, and the minimum achievable distance of E_Fs from the conduction band is ～360 mV for doping with 10⁴ ppm PH₃. The optimum doping for the fabrication of solar cells is almost one order of magnitude lower. This discrepancy may be explained by enhanced recombination at the a-Si:H/c-Si interface at high doping levels, and in addition by an efficient recombination pathway where charge carriers tunnel from c-Si via a-Si:H band tail states into the a-Si:H and subsequently recombine at dangling bond states.     

Device grade hydrogenated polymorphous silicon deposited at high rates

Hydrogenated polymorphous silicon (pm-Si:H) thin films have been deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at high rate (8–10 Å/s), and a set of complementary techniques have been used to study transport, localized state distribution, and optical properties of these films, as well as the stability of these properties during light-soaking. We demonstrate that these high deposition rate pm-Si:H films have outstanding electronic properties, with, for example, ambipolar diffusion length (L_d) values up to 290 nm, and density of states at the Fermi level well below 10¹⁵ cm^?3 eV^?1. Consistent with these material studies, results on pm-Si:H PIN modules show no dependence of their initial efficiency on the increase of the deposition rate from 1 to 10 Å/s. Although there is some degradation after light-soaking, the electronic quality of the films is better than for degraded standard hydrogenated amorphous silicon (values of L_d up to 200 nm). This result is reflected in the light-soaked device characteristics.     

Investigation of surface treatment effect of catalyst on the lifetime for Cat-CVD method

In case of amorphous silicon (a-Si) film deposition by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) method, a metal catalyzing wire is converted to silicide and this silicidation causes shortening lifetime of the catalyzing wire. In the present work, the effect of surface carbonization of catalyzing wire against silicide formation is investigated to obtain long-life catalyzer. Characteristics of a-Si film deposited by carbonized tungsten (W) catalyzer are also investigated. Silicide layer thickness formed on carbonized catalyzing wires after 60 min a-Si film deposition decreases to half of that on uncarbonized wires. Device quality a-Si films having defect density less than 4 × 10¹⁵ cm^?3 are obtained by using carbonized W, indicating that surface carbonization of W catalyzer is effective process for industrial application of Cat-CVD method.     

X-ray reflectometry of the specific features of structural distortions of He+-implanted Si(001) surface layers

The structural changes in the surface layers of silicon substrates, implanted by helium ions with energies from 2 to 5 keV and doses to 6 × 10¹⁵–5 × 10¹⁷ cm^?2, has been studied by high-resolution X-ray reflectometry. The damaged layer is found to have a total thickness comparable with the total ion path length (estimated from the SRIM model) and a multilayer structure: a strongly amorphized layer with reduced density, a porous (incapsulated) layer, and a deformed layer. The thickness of sublayers, their density ρ(z), and the mean strain (～5 × 10^?3) have been determined. The characteristic pore size is estimated to be 5–20 nm. It is shown that the presence of a nanoporous layer facilitates the formation of diffuse scattering, which can be used to diagnose layers by high-resolution X-ray reflectometry.     

Photoelectric features of vacuum-deposited a-Si:H/Alq3 blends

Using three electrode vacuum system for glow discharge of 5% SiH₄ + 95% Ar gas mixture together with thermal evaporation of phosphorus or boric aced, the n- and p-type a-Si:H layers have been deposited. By co-evaporation of phosphorus or boric aced the conductivity of a-Si:H layers was changed in 10^?11–10^?3 Ω^?1 cm^?1 or 10^?11 –10^?8 Ω^?1 cm^?1 range, respectively. Blends of a-Si:H and tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃) have been vacuum-deposited by simultaneous glow discharge of 5% SiH₄ + 95 % Ar gas mixture and thermal co-evaporation of Alq₃. Photoluminescence spectrum of a-Si:H/Alq₃ blend coincident with one of Alq₃ was observed at room temperature.     

Effect of annealing on the conduction mechanism in amorphous silicon

This paper reports the effect of annealing on conduction mechanisms in amorphous silicon films. High field transport is mainly by the Poole-Frenkel mechanism in unannealed films of amorphous silicon. As they are annealed, the conduction meachnism changes from Poole-Frenkel to space charge conduction. The films are fully annealed at 120°C for 15 h and any more annealing for longer periods does not change the I–V characteristics. From the measured values of threshold voltage at which space charge conduction sets in, the density of localized states around the Fermi level is calculated to be about 10¹⁷–10¹⁸/eV · cm³ which agrees very well with our results from other experimental techniques.     

Nature of radiation defects in synthetic quartz according to the small-angle neutron scattering data

The supraatomic structure of single crystals of synthetic quartz in the initial state with a dislocation density of 570 cm^?2 and after irradiation in the VVR-M reactor at the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute with fast neutrons having the energy E _n > 1 MeV in the range of fluences F _n = 7.7 × 10¹⁷ ?2.1 × 10²⁰ neutrons/cm² has been studied by small-angle scattering of thermal neutrons. It is established that fast neutrons form point, linear, and volume lattice defects throughout the entire sample volume. Large-volume structures (nuclei of the amorphous phase) in quartz, reaching ～100 nm in size, occupy a small total volume (～1.5%) even at the maximum fluence 2.1 × 10²⁰ neutrons/cm². The majority of damage is related to the point defects with the radius of gyration of 1–2 nm and linear defects, which give comparable contributions up to several percent.     

Electrical,structural and optical properties of amorphous carbon

The planar and transverse electrical resistivity of amorphous carbon (a-C) films getter-sputtered at low temperature (77–95 K) is well-fitted by the expression $\text{? = ?}{}_0\text{exp}\text{(T}{}_0\text{/T)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>4</mtext>}}$ The exponent T₀ being approximately the same in both cases (≈ 7 × 10⁷ K) suggests that the amorphous films are isotropic. Films thinner than 600 Å display a two-dimensional hopping conductivity from which one deduces a density of states N(E_F) at the Fermi level of 10¹⁸ eV^?1 cm^?3 and a radius of the localized wave functions (a) of 12 Å. Tunneling experiments and optical absorption measurements are consistent with a pseudogap of approximately 0.8 eV. Electron diffraction experiments indicate that a-C films consist of a mixture of diamond and graphite bonds; this fact taken in the light of the other experiments would suggest that the graphite bonds act as the localized conduction states.     

Structure and photoelectrical properties of SiO2/Si/SiO2 single quantum wells prepared under ultrahigh vacuum conditions

SiO₂/Si/SiO₂ single quantum wells (QWs) were prepared under ultrahigh vacuum conditions in order to study their structural, chemical and photoelectrical properties with respect to a possible application in photovoltaic devices. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) layers (thickness <10 nm) were deposited onto quartz glass (SiO₂) substrates and subsequently oxidized with neutral atomic oxygen at moderate temperatures of 600 °C. Under these conditions, the formation of suboxides is mostly suppressed and abrupt Si/SiO₂ interfaces are obtained. Crystallization of a-Si QWs requires temperatures as high as 1000 °C resulting in a nanocrystalline structure with a small amorphous fraction. The spectral dependence of the internal quantum efficiency of photoconductivity correlates well with the nanocrystalline structure and yields mobility lifetime products of <10^?7 cm² V^?1. This rather low value points towards a strong influence of Si/SiO₂ interface states on the carrier mobility and the carrier lifetime in Si QWs. Electronic passivation of interface states by subsequent hydrogen treatment in forming gas enhances the internal quantum efficiency by nearly one order of magnitude.