Effect of hydrogen on hardness of amorphous silicon

A comparative study of hardness of thin films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and hydrogen-free amorphous silicon (a-Si) was carried out to reveal the role of hydrogen in the plastic properties of amorphous silicon. In addition, the effect of hydrogen on hardness was established by changing hydrogen concentration in the material using post-deposition processing of the samples. The hydrogen concentration in a-Si:H was decreased by thermal annealing. In a-Si hydrogen was introduced by plasma hydrogenation. The values of hardness of the as-prepared a-Si and a-Si:H films were determined by nanoindentation using depth profiling. Low-depth indentation was applied to evaluate the effect of post-hydrogenation. The results obtained show that the presence of hydrogen in the amorphous silicon network leads to the increase in hardness. The conducted experiments demonstrate that plasma hydrogenation can be used as an effective tool to increase the hardness of amorphous silicon. Hardness of a-Si:H of about 12.3–12.7 GPa is as high as of crystalline silicon, suggesting a-Si:H can be a substitute for crystalline silicon in some MEMS.     

薄膜硅/晶体硅异质结电池中本征硅薄膜钝化层的性质及光发射谱研究

本文采用甚高频等离子体化学气相沉积技术 (VHF-PECVD) 制备薄膜硅/晶体硅异质结电池中的本征硅薄膜钝化层, 光发射谱 (OES) 测量技术研究了硅薄膜沉积过程中等离子体发光谱随时间的变化. 结果表明: 在实验优化条件下等离子体发光谱很快达到稳定 (大约25 s), 并且SiH^*/H_α^* 的比值随时间变化较小, 避免了生长过程中硅薄膜结构的不均匀性, 这主要是SiH₄没有完全耗尽避免了SiH₄的反向扩散. 进一步研究了沉积参数对稳态发光谱和硅薄膜性质的影响, 结果表明: 随着硅烷浓度增加, H_α^*峰强度减小, SiH^*峰强度增加, 薄膜从微晶转变成非晶, 非晶硅薄膜钝化效果好; 随着沉积气压增大, H_α^*和 SiH^*峰强度先增加后减小, 高气压下H_α^*和 SiH^*峰强度下降主要是反应前驱物的聚合形成高聚合物, 不利于形成高质量的硅薄膜, 因此钝化效果下降; 随着反应功率密度增加, H_α^*和 SiH^*峰强度增大, 当功率密度为150 mW/cm² 趋于饱和, 硅薄膜的致密度和钝化效果也开始下降, 50 mW/cm²的低功率密度下硅薄膜钝化效果差可能是由于原子H 浓度低, 不能完全钝化单晶硅表面的悬挂键. 关键词： 薄膜硅 异质结 光发射谱 钝化     

非晶硅薄膜晶化过程中微结构的分析

使用X射线衍射技术和高分辨率电子显微镜(HREM),分析研究了在非晶硅薄膜由非晶相向微晶相转化过程中其网络结构的变化特征,由此,给人们一个直观的信息,并加深对非晶硅薄膜微结构的认识。 关键词：     

MICROSTRUCTURE OF SiOx:H FILMS PREPARED BY PLASMA ENHANCED CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION

The micro-Raman spectroscopy and infrared (IR) spectroscopy have been performed for the study of the microstructure of amorphous hydrogenated oxidized silicon (a-SiO_x:H) films prepared by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition technique. It is found that a-SiO_x:H consists of two phases: an amorphous silicon-rich phase and an oxygen-rich phase mainly comprised of HSi-SiO₂ and HSi-O₃. The Raman scattering results exhibit that the frequency of TO-like mode of amorphous silicon red-shifts with decreasing size of silicon-rich region. This is related to the quantum confinement effects, similar to the nanocrystalline silicon.     

分子动力学模拟H原子与Si的表面相互作用

通过分子动力学模拟了入射能量对H原子与晶Si表面相互作用的影响. 通过模拟数据与实验数据的比较, 得到H原子吸附率随入射量的增加 呈先增加后趋于平衡的趋势. 沉积的H原子在Si表面形成一层氢化非晶硅薄膜, 刻蚀产物(H₂, SiH₂, SiH₃和SiH₄)对H原子吸附率趋于平衡有重要影响, 并且也决定了样品的表面粗糙度. 当入射能量为1 eV时, 样品表面粗糙度最小. 随着入射能量的增加, 氢化非晶硅薄膜中各成分(SiH, SiH₂, SiH₃)的量以及分布均有所变化. 关键词： 分子动力学 吸附率 表面粗糙度 氢化非晶硅薄膜     

The influence of boron concentrations on structural properties in disorder silicon films

In this work we present a detailed structural of a series of B-doped hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and B-doped polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films produced by step-by-step laser crystallization process from amorphous silicon. The influence of doping on the structural properties and structural changes during the sequential crystallization processes were monitored by Raman spectroscopy. Unlike μc-Si:H films, that consist of a two-phase mixture of amorphous and ordered Si, partially crystallized sample shows a stratified structure with polycrystalline silicon layer at the top of an amorphous layer. With increasing doping concentration the LO-TO phonon line in poly-Si shift to smaller wave numbers and broadens asymmetrically. The results are discussed in terms of resonant interaction between optical phonons and direct intraband transitions known as a Fano resonance. In μc-Si:H films, on the other hand, the Fano effect is not observed. The increase of doping in μc-Si:H films suppressed the crystalline volume fraction, which leads to an amorphization in the film structure. The structural variation in both μc-Si:H and poly-Si films leads to a change in hydrogen bonding configuration.     

Role of the hydrogen in the light-induced defects in undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We have investigated the effect of the deposition temperature (i.e. the hydrogen content) on the light-induced effects in undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). Combined junction capacitance-temperature (C-T), ESR and IR absorption measurements are carried out in both the dark annealed state (A) and the saturated light-soaked state (B), as well as after partial annealing of the samples, starting from state B. The experimental results indicate that the films deposited at the highest substrate temperature (i.e. the lowest H content) exhibit a completely different behaviour from those deposited at lower substrate temperature (i.e. with higher H concentration), when the samples are left for long times at room temperature in the dark after partial annealing. These results are discussed in detail in relation to the different models proposed to explain the light-induced effects in a-Si:H.     

Microstructure of hydrogenated silicon thin films prepared from silane diluted with hydrogen

We report results obtained from FTIR and TEM measurements carried out on silicon thin films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from silane diluted with hydrogen. The hydrogen content, the microstructure factor, the mass density and the volume per Si-H vibrating dipoles were determined as a function of the hydrogen dilution. Hydrogen dilution of silane results in an inhomogeneous growth during which the material evolves from amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) to microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon (μc-Si:H). With increasing dilution the transition from amorphous to microcrystalline phase appears faster and the average mass density of the films decreases. The μc-Si:H films are mixed-phase void-rich materials with changing triphasic volume fractions of crystalline and amorphous phases and voids. Different bonding configurations of vibrating Si-H dipoles were observed in the a-Si:H and μc-Si:H. The bonding of hydrogen to silicon in the void- and vacancy-dominated mechanisms of network formation is discussed.     

椭圆偏振光谱表征单晶硅衬底上生长的非晶硅和外延硅薄膜

本文采用射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积(rf-PECVD)技术在单晶硅衬底上沉积了两个系列的硅薄膜. 通过对样品进行固定角度椭圆偏振测试, 结果表明第一个系列硅薄膜为非晶硅, 形成了突变的a-Si:H/c-Si异质结构, 此结构在HIT电池中有利于形成好的界面特性, 对于非晶硅薄膜采用通常的Tauc-Lorentz摇摆模型(Genosc)拟合结果很好; 第二个系列硅薄膜为外延硅, 对于外延硅薄膜, 随着膜厚增加晶化率降低, 当外延硅薄膜厚度为46 nm时开始非晶硅生长. 对于外延硅通常采用EMA模型(即将硅薄膜体层看成由非晶硅和c-Si构成的混合层)拟合结果较好, 当硅薄膜中出现非晶硅生长时, 将体层分成混合层和非晶硅两层, 采用三层模型拟合结果很好. 本文证实了椭偏光谱分析采用不同的模型可对单晶硅衬底上不同结构的硅薄膜进行有效表征.     

Theory of hydrogen-related metastability in disordered silicon

Density functional electronic structure calculations are employed to examine hydrogen for a variety of configurations in silicon. A novel complex is found for hydrogen in amorphous silicon. The complex involves the breaking of a weak silicon bond to form two Si-H bonds with both hydrogens in between the original silicon atoms. This complex provides a microscopic model for new metastable complexes observed in amorphous silicon. Mechanisms for hydrogen-related metastability are discussed for amorphous and polycrystalline silicon.     

过渡区p型氢化硅氧薄膜结构和光电特性的研究

采用射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术,利用二氧化碳(CO_2)、氢气(H_2)、硅烷(SiH_4)和乙硼烷(B_2H_6)作为气源,制备出一系列p型氢化硅氧薄膜.利用拉曼光谱、傅里叶变换红外光谱和暗电导测试,研究了不同二氧化碳流量对薄膜材料结构和光电特性的影响,获得了从纳米晶相向非晶相转变的过渡区P层.研究表明:随着二氧化碳流量从0增加到1.2 cm~3·min~(-1),拉曼光谱的峰值位置从520 cm~(-1)逐渐移至480 cm~(-1).材料红外光谱表明,随着二氧化碳流量的增加,薄膜中的氧含量逐渐增加,氢键配置逐渐由硅单氢键转换为硅双氢键.P层SiO:H薄膜电导率从3S/cm降为8.3×10~(-6)S/cm.所有p型SiO:H薄膜的光学带隙(Eopt)都在1.82—2.13 eV之间变化.在不加背反射电极的条件下,利用从纳米晶相向非晶相转变的过渡区P层作为电池的窗口层,且在P层和I层之间插入一定厚度的缓冲层,制备出效率为8.27%的非晶硅薄膜电池.     

Photo-induced electrical instability in hydrogenated amorphous silicon based thin-film transistors and the effect of its phase transition

We investigate the origin of photo-induced electrical instability in hydrogenated amorphous silicon based thin-film transistors (a-Si:H TFTs). Photo instability alone was accompanied by a positive shift in the threshold voltage (V_TH) caused by photo irradiation, and even larger positive or negative shift further exacerbated the instability caused by photo-induced electrical bias stress. Such phenomena can occur as a result of extended charge trapping and/or the creation of defect-states at the semiconductor/dielectric interface or in the gate dielectric. The mechanism for such is difficult to describe through chemical interactions of electron-donating and -withdrawing molecules that exhibit a shift in V_TH in only one direction. We also prove that a transition from an amorphous to a protocrystalline phase improves the photo-induced electrical stability. Such results originate from a reduction in the density of the localized states in protocrystalline-Si:H films relative to that of a-Si:H. We believe that this study provides significant information on the device physics of optoelectronics, which commonly exhibit photo-induced instability and charge transport, as a result of prolonged exposure to photo irradiation.     

Hydrogen chemisorption on the 100 (2 × 1) surfaces of Si and Ge

This paper combines a theoretical study of the Si(100) surface having a monolayer of atomic hydrogen chemisorbed to it with an experimental study of the analogous Ge(100) and Ge(110) surfaces. In the theoretical work the underlying (100) silicon surface is taken to be reconstructed according to the Schlier-Farnsworth-Levine pairing model with the hydrogen located on the unfilled tetrahedral bonds of this structure. Self-consistent calculations of the electronic potential, charge density, spectrum, and occupied surface density of states are carried out. The force on the hydrogen atoms is then calculated using the Hellman-Feynman theorem. This force is found to be close to zero, confirming that the hydrogen atoms are indeed at the equilibrium position for the chosen silicon geometry. Features in the calculated photoemission spectrum for the Si(100) 2 × 1 : H surface are discussed in terms of related features in the photoemission spectrum of Si(111) : H, but are found not to agree with the previously measured photoemission spectrum of Si(100) 2 × 1 : H. Measured photoemission and ion-neutralization spectra for Ge(100) 2 × 1 : H agree in their major features with what is calculated for Si(100) 2 × 1 : H, however, suggesting that the Ge(100) 2 × 1 : H surface is reconstricted according to the pairing model. Similarly, measured spectra for clean Ge(100) 2 × 1 agree with calculations for the row dimerized Si(100) surface.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance investigation of H, H2 and dopants in hydrogenated amorphous silicon and related materials

Nuclear magnetic resonance has been successfully applied to the study of the microstructure of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and related materials. It has been used to determine the local bonding and structural environment of the host atoms, the hydrogen, and the dopants. First, we review some of these NMR experimental results on the hydrogen microstructure in hydrogentaed amorphous semiconductors and compare the results on plasma deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), remote hydrogen plasma deposited a-Si:H, thermally annealed a-Si:H, doped a-Si:H, microcrystalline Si and amorphous (Si, Ge):H alloys. A common feature is that these materials exhibit a heterogeneous distribution of hydrogen bonded to the semiconductor lattice in dilute and clustered phases. In addition, the lattice contains voids of varying number and size that contain non-bonded molecular hydrogen whose quantity is altered by deposition conditions and thermal treatment. Second, we review some aspects of the local bonding structure of dopants in a-Si:H. A significant fraction of the dopants are found to be in dopant-hydrogen clusters similar to those proposed to explain hydrogen passivation in crystalline silicon. Implications of the determined local structure on the doping efficiency are discussed.     

非晶硅锗电池性能的调控研究

采用射频等离子体增强化学气相沉积技术, 研究了非晶硅锗薄膜太阳电池. 针对非晶硅锗薄膜材料的本身特性, 通过调控硅锗合金中硅锗的比例, 实现了对硅锗薄膜太阳电池中开路电压和短路电流密度的分别控制. 借助于本征层硅锗材料帯隙梯度的设计, 获得了可有效用于多结叠层电池中的非晶硅锗电池. 关键词： 非晶硅锗薄膜太阳电池 短路电流密度 开路电压 带隙梯度     

Nonradiative electron-hole recombination by a low-barrier pathway in hydrogenated silicon semiconductors

A microscopic pathway for nonradiative electron-hole recombination by large structural reconfiguration in hydrogenated Si is found with first-principles calculations. Trapped-biexciton formation leads to a low-barrier reconfiguration of the H atom, accompanied by crossing of doubly occupied electron and hole levels in the band gap. This crossing represents the nonradiative recombination of the carriers, without multiphonon emission. The proposal provides a mechanism for carrier-induced H emission during metastable degradation of hydrogenated amorphous silicon.     

Hydrogen effusion: a probe for surface desorption and diffusion

Hydrogen effusion results are discussed for hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and related alloys as well as for crystalline silicon (c-Si). It is demonstrated that depending on the microstructure of the material, hydrogen effusion gives information on hydrogen diffusion or surface desorption. The results suggest for compact a-Si:H and for ion implanted c-Si a similar hydrogen diffusion process, which is a trap limited motion of atomic hydrogen. Hydrogen effusion from defect-free c-Si and from void-rich amorphous semiconductors is limited by surface desorption. Both hydrogen diffusion and desorption depend on the Fermi energy if hydrogen bonds to the host material are broken.     

Effect of hydrogen on surface texturing and crystallization of a-Si:H thin film irradiated by excimer laser

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films have been considered for use in solar cell applications because of their significantly reduced cost compared to crystalline bulk silicon. However, their overall efficiency and stability are lower than that of their bulk crystalline counterpart. Limited work has been performed on simultaneously solving the efficiency and stability issues of a-Si:H. Previous work has shown that surface texturing and crystallization on a-Si:H thin film can be achieved through a single-step laser processing, which can potentially alleviate the disadvantages of a-Si:H in solar cell applications. In this study, hydrogenated and dehydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films deposited on glass substrates were irradiated by KrF excimer laser pulses and the effect of hydrogen on surface morphologies and microstructures is discussed. Sharp spikes are focused only on hydrogenated films, and the large-grained and fine-grained regions caused by two crystallization processes are also induced by presence of hydrogen. Enhanced light absorptance is observed due to light trapping based on surface geometry changes of a-Si:H films, while the formation of a mixture of nanocrystalline silicon and original amorphous silicon after crystallization suggests that the overall material stability can potentially improve. The relationship between crystallinity, fluence and number of pulses is also investigated. Furthermore, a step-by-step crystallization process is introduced to prevent the hydrogen from diffusing out in order to reduce the defect density, and the relationship between residue hydrogen concentration, fluence and step width is discussed. Finally, the combined effects show that the single-step process of surface texturing and step-by-step crystallization induced by excimer laser processing are promising for a-Si:H thin-film solar cell applications.     

硅异质结太阳电池的物理机制和优化设计

硅异质结太阳电池是一种由非晶硅薄膜层沉积于晶硅吸收层构成的高效低成本的光伏器件,是一种具有大面积规模化生产潜力的光伏产品.异质结界面钝化品质、发射极的掺杂浓度和厚度以及透明导电层的功函数是影响硅异质结太阳电池性能的主要因素.针对这些影响因素已经有大量的研究工作在全世界范围内展开,并且有诸多研究小组提出了器件效率限制因素背后的物理机制.洞悉物理机制可为今后优化设计高性能的器件提供准则.因此及时总结硅异质结太阳电池的物理机制和优化设计非常必要.本文主要讨论了晶硅表面钝化、发射极掺杂层和透明导电层之间的功函数失配以及由此形成的肖特基势垒;讨论了屏蔽由功函数失配引起的能带弯曲所需的特征长度,即屏蔽长度;介绍了硅异质结太阳电池优化设计的数值模拟和实践;总结了硅异质结太阳电池的研究现状和发展前景.     

PROPERITES OF HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS SILICON CARBIDE FILMS IRRADIATED BY EXCIMER PULSE LASER

A series of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide film (a-SiC:H) were prepared by rf plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. The optical band gap(E^opt_g) of the films can be extended to 2.6eV. The as-deposited alma were then irradiated by a KrF excimer laser. During the irradiation process, hydrogen escaped out of the films, and the structure of the films was changed from an amorphous phase to mixed phases of nanocrystallites of silicon and amorphous silicon carbide. The room-temperature dark conductivity of the laser irradiated films is 6-7 orders of magnitude larger than that of the as-deposited films, which was attributed to the modification of the conductivity mechanism resulting from the structural change.