氢化非晶硅叠层薄膜对单晶硅表面钝化研究

采用等离子体增强化学气相沉积法生长的单层本征氢化非晶硅薄膜对单晶硅片进行钝化,结果表明增加氢稀释比有利于减少薄膜中的缺陷,增强钝化效果,过量的氢稀释比会导致非晶硅在硅片表面的外延晶化生长,降低钝化效果。退火导致非晶硅晶化程度增加,降低了钝化效果,同时退火提升了薄膜的质量,改变了H键合方式,增强了钝化效果。因此,单层氢化非晶硅只有在合适的氢稀释比和退火温度才可以获得最佳钝化效果。为了提高非晶硅薄膜对硅片的钝化效果,采用具有高低氢稀释比的叠层本征非晶硅薄膜对硅片进行钝化。因此将高氢稀释比沉积的非晶硅薄膜叠层生长于低氢稀释比的薄膜之上,避免非晶硅在硅片表面的外延生长。在退火过程中,高氢稀释比薄膜中的氢扩散到低氢稀释比薄膜中,有效地钝化了非晶硅中和单晶硅表面的悬挂键,改善了非晶硅/硅片的界面质量,叠层钝化后硅片的少子寿命为7.36 ms,隐含开路电压为732 mV。     

氢化非晶硅薄膜的热导率研究

采用铂电极为加热电阻,研究了厚度为300—370nm等离子体化学气相沉积(PECVD)工艺制备的氢化非晶硅(a-Si：H)薄膜的热导率随衬底温度的变化规律.用光谱式椭偏仪拟合测量薄膜的厚度,得到了沉积速率随衬底温度变化规律,傅里叶红外(FTIR)表征了在KBr晶片衬底上制备的a-Si：H薄膜的红外光谱特性,SiH原子团键合模的震动对热量的吸收降低了薄膜热导率.从动力学角度分析了薄膜热导率随平均温度升高而增大的原因,并比较了声子传播和自由电子移动在a-Si：H薄膜热导率变化上的作用差异. 关键词： 非晶硅 热导率 薄膜 热能     

氢化非晶硅的低温输运

从低温跳跃电导模型出发,计算低温下的跳跃频率,热发射率及输运能级随温度变化,分析讨论了非晶硅热激电导的低温峰。认为输运机制的变化是氢化非晶硅热激电导低温峰T_M独立于起始温度T₀的主要原因,T_M相应于输运机制变化的温度。 关键词：     

氢化非晶硅薄膜退火形成的纳米硅及其光致发光

本文报道对氢化非晶硅(a-Si:H)薄膜在600～620℃温度下快速退火10s可以形成纳米晶硅(nc-Si),其Raman散射表明,在所形成的nc-Si在薄膜中的分布是随机的,直径在1.6～15nm范围内,并且在强激光辐照下观察了nc-Si在薄膜中的结晶和生长情况.经退火所形成的nc-Si可见光辐射较弱,不能检测到它们的光致发光(PL),但用氢氟酸腐蚀钝化后则可检测到较强的红PL,并且钝化后的nc-Si在空气中暴露一定的时间后,其辐射光波长产生了蓝移.文中就表面钝化和量子限制对可见光辐射的重要性作了讨论.     

新型薄膜电子材料——氢化非晶硅

 当今最重要的电子材料是半导体单晶硅,用它不但可制做各种二极管、三极管还可将成千上万个元件集成在一个小硅片上.从大型计算机到家用电器、儿童玩具,其核心部分都是用单晶硅做的集成电路.市场上需求多少半导体集成电路已经成为一个国家现代化水平的标志.单晶硅器件技术的发展一方面是不断提高单位芯片上的元件集成度,另一方面是向薄膜器件的新领域开拓.特别是在七十年代分子束外延技术出现以后,制做原子尺度的单晶薄膜已成现实.     

氢化非晶硅薄膜晶体管的低频噪声特性

针对氢化非晶硅薄膜晶体管(hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin film transistor,a-Si:H TFT)的低频噪声特性展开实验研究.由测量结果可知,a-Si:H TFT的低频噪声特性遵循1/f~γ(f为频率,γ≈0.92)的变化规律,主要受迁移率随机涨落效应的影响.基于与迁移率涨落相关的载流子数随机涨落模型(?N-?μ模型),在考虑源漏接触电阻、局域态俘获及释放载流子效应等情况时,对器件低频噪声特性随沟道电流的变化进行分析与拟合.基于a-Si:H TFT的亚阈区电流-电压特性提取器件表面能带弯曲量与栅源电压之间的关系,通过沟道电流噪声功率谱密度提取a-Si:H TFT有源层内局域态密度及其分布.实验结果表明:局域态在禁带内随能量呈e指数变化,两种缺陷态在导带底密度分别约为6.31×10~(18)和1.26×10~(18)cm~(-3)·eV~(-1),特征温度分别约为192和290 K,这符合非晶硅层内带尾态密度及其分布特征.最后提取器件的平均Hooge因子,为评价非晶硅材料及其稳定性提供参考.     

利用快速退火法从非晶硅薄膜中生长纳米硅晶粒

报道了一种从非晶硅薄膜中生长纳米硅晶粒的方法。含氢非晶硅薄膜经过快速热退火处理后，用拉曼散射和X射线衍射技术对样品进行分析。实验结果表明：纳米硅晶粒不但能在非晶硅薄膜中形成，而且所形成的纳米硅晶粒的大小随着热退火过程中升温快慢而变化。在升温过程中，若单位时间内温度变化量较大（－100℃/s），则所形成纳米硅粒较小（1．6－15nm）； 若单位时间内温度变化量较低（－1℃/s），则纳米硅粒较大（23－46nm）。根据晶体生长理论和计算机模拟，讨论了升温快慢与所形成的纳米硅颗粒大小的关系。     

低温退火磷吸杂工艺对低少子寿命铸造多晶硅电性能的影响

本文针对低少子寿命铸造多晶硅片进行试验, 通过一种将多温度梯度磷扩散吸杂工艺与低温退火工艺结合的新型低温退火吸杂工艺, 去除低少子寿命多晶硅片中影响其电性能的Fe杂质及部分晶体缺陷, 提高低少子寿命多晶硅所生产的太阳电池各项电性能. 通过低温退火磷扩散吸杂工艺与其他磷扩散吸杂工艺的比较, 证明了低温退火吸杂工艺具有更好的磷吸杂和修复晶体缺陷的作用. IV-measurement发现经过低温退火工艺处理后的低少子寿命多晶硅, 制备的太阳电池光电转换效率比其他实验组高0.2%, 表明该工艺能有效地提高低少子寿命多晶硅太阳电池各项电性能参数及电池质量. 本研究结果表明新型低温退火磷吸杂工艺可将低少子寿命硅片应用于大规模太阳电池生产中, 提高铸造多晶硅材料在太阳能领域的利用率, 节约铸造多晶硅的生产成本. 关键词： 低温退火 磷吸杂 低少子寿命多晶硅 太阳电池     

退火处理对掺铒氢化非晶硅悬挂键密度和光致荧光的影响

采用磁控溅射技术制备了铒掺杂的氢化非晶硅(a-Si∶H(Er))样品.进一步通过200—500℃温度递增的后退火处理，获得了不同的Si悬挂键(Si-DBs)密度，并在此基础上研究了Si-DBs密度改变对其Er光荧光(Er-PL)的影响.退火温度低于350℃时，Er-PL强度持续增加，但Si-DBs密度的变化显得较复杂；350℃以上时，Er-PL强度随Si-DBs密度的增加而减小.在200—250℃的退火温度范围内，Si-DBs是由于结构弛豫而减少；在250—500℃的退火温度范围内，可能由于Si—H键的断 关键词： 氢化非晶硅 铒掺杂 Si悬挂键 光荧光     

Surface passivation of crystalline silicon by sputter deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon

This letter shows that intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering can provide outstanding passivation of crystalline silicon surfaces, similar to that achieved by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). By using a 2% hydrogen and 98% argon gas mixture as the plasma source, 1.5 Ω cm n‐type FZ silicon wafers coated with sputtered a‐Si:H films achieved an effective lifetime of 3.5 ms, comparable to the 3 ms achieved by PECVD (RF and microwave dual‐mode). This is despite the fact that Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements show that sputtering and PECVD deposited films have very different chemical bonding configurations. We have found that film thickness and deposition temperature have a significant impact on the passivation results. Self‐annealing and hydrogen plasma treatment during deposition are likely driving forces for the observed changes in surface passivation. These experimental results open the way for the application of sputtered a‐Si:H to silicon heterojunction solar cells. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Ultra high amorphous silicon passivation quality of crystalline silicon surface using in‐situ post‐deposition treatments

A parametric study of post‐deposition hydrogen plasma treatment of intrinsic a:Si:H films is performed. We demonstrate a significant improvement in passivation of c‐Si(100) promoting epitaxy after an in‐situ hydrogen plasma treatment depending mainly on the pressure and slightly on the power. Plasma diagnostic indicates an increase of H_α* signal with high power and low pressure. However, our analysis reveals a better hydrogen incorporation with high pressure and a slight increase in monohydride with high power. Longer H₂ plasma duration up to 50 s shows no detrimental effect on the passivation quality. Optimizing the in‐situ H₂ plasma treatment, high minority carrier lifetime over 15 ms was achieved after short thermal annealing. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nanoindentation of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Nanoindentation was carried out on thin films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The composite values of elastic (Young's) modulus, E _c, and hardness, H _c, of the film/substrate system were evaluated from the load–displacement curves using the Oliver–Pharr approach. The film-only parameters were obtained employing the extrapolation of the depth profiles of E _c and H _c. Scanning probe microscopy was employed to image the nanoindenter impressions and to estimate the effect of film roughness and material pile-up on the testing results. It was established that the elastic modulus of thin a-Si:H films is in the range 117–131 GPa, which is lower than for crystalline silicon. In contrast, the values of hardness are in the range 12.2–12.7 GPa, which is comparable to crystalline silicon and higher than for hydrogen-free amorphous silicon. It is suggested that the plastic deformation of a-Si:H proceeds through plastic flow and it is the presence of hydrogen in the amorphous matrix that leads to a higher hardness.     

Room-temperature electroluminescence from erbium-doped amorphous hydrogenated silicon

We have studied electroluminescence (EL) in the amorphous silicon-based erbium-doped structures under reverse bias in the temperature range 77–300 K. The intensity of electroluminescence at the wavelength of 1.54 μm exhibits a maximum near the room temperature. The excitation of erbium ions occurs by an Auger process which involves the capture of conduction electrons by neutral dangling bonds (D⁰-centers) located close to erbium ions. The stationary current through the structure is kept by a reverse process of thermally activated tunnel emission of electrons from negatively charged dangling-bond defects (D⁻-centers) to the conduction band of the amorphous matrix. A theoretical model proposed explains consistently all of our experimental data.     

Crystalline silicon surface passivation investigated by thermal atomic-layer-deposited aluminum oxide

Atomic-layer-deposited(ALD) aluminum oxide(Al_2O_3) has demonstrated an excellent surface passivation for crystalline silicon(c-Si) surfaces, as well as for highly boron-doped c-Si surfaces. In this paper, water-based thermal atomic layer deposition of Al_2O_3 films are fabricated for c-Si surface passivation. The influence of deposition conditions on the passivation quality is investigated. The results show that the excellent passivation on n-type c-Si can be achieved at a low thermal budget of 250℃ given a gas pressure of 0.15 Torr. The thickness-dependence of surface passivation indicates that the effective minority carrier lifetime increases drastically when the thickness of Al_2O_3 is larger than 10 nm. The influence of thermal post annealing treatments is also studied. Comparable carrier lifetime is achieved when Al_2O_3 sample is annealed for 15 min in forming gas in a temperature range from 400℃ to 450℃. In addition, the passivation quality can be further improved when a thin PECVD-SiN_x cap layer is prepared on Al_2O_3, and an effective minority carrier lifetime of2.8 ms and implied Voc of 721 mV are obtained. In addition, several novel methods are proposed to restrain blistering.     

Dynamics of hydrogen in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

The problem of hydrogen diffusion in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is studied semiclassically. It is found that the local hydrogen concentration fluctuations-induced extra potential wells, if intense enough, lead to the localized electronic states in a-Si:H. These localized states are metastable. The trapping of electrons and holes in these states leads to the electrical degradation of the material. These states also act as recombination centers for photo-generated carriers (electrons and holes) which in turn may excite a hydrogen atom from a nearby Si-H bond and breaks the weak (strained) Si-Si bond thereby apparently enhancing the hydrogen diffusion and increasing the light-induced dangling bonds.     

Influence of heterogeneities on the electronic properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

An attempt is made to highlight the importance of inhomogeneities in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), in controlling its electronic properties. We note that hydrogen increases the gap in a-Si:H and that hydrogen is distributed inhomogeneously in it. This gives rise to long-range potential fluctuations, which are mostly uncorrelated and usually ignored. These and other such considerations have not only enabled us to gain new insights into the behaviour of a-Si:H in general, but have also allowed us to resolve several unsolved puzzles. Among these are questions like why undoped a-Si:H is n-type, why the creation of dangling bonds upon light soaking (LS) so inefficient, why a-Si:H degrades more upon LS when it is doped, why the reciprocity fails for light-induced degradation, why presence of nanocrystalline silicon improves stability and so on. We provide evidence to support some of our ideas and make suggestions for verifying the others.     

Theoretical investigation on the passivation layer with linearly graded bandgap for the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cell

Passivation layer with linearly graded bandgap (LGB) was proposed to improve the performance of amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell by eliminating the large abrupt energy band uncontinuity at the a‐Si:H/c‐Si interface. Theoretical investigation on the a‐Si:H(p)/the LGB passivation layer(i)/c‐Si(n)/a‐Si:H(i)/a‐Si:H(n⁺) solar cell via AFORS‐HET simulation show that such LGB passivation layer could improve the solar cell efficiency (η) by enhancing the fill factor (FF) greatly, especially when the a‐Si:H(p) emitter was not efficiently doped and the passivation layer was relatively thick. But gap defects in the LGB passivation layer could make the improvement discounted due to the open‐circuit voltage (V_OC) decrease induced by recombination. To overcome this, it was quite effective to keep the gap defects away from the middle of the bandgap by widening the minimum bandgap of the LGB passivation layer to be a little larger than that of the c‐Si base. The underlying mechanisms were analysed in detail. How to achieve the LGB passivation layer experimentally was also discussed. (© 2016 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Plasma hydrogenated,reactively sputtered aluminium oxide for silicon surface passivation

The intentional addition of hydrogen during reactive sputtering of AlO_x films has led to a dramatic improvement of the surface passivation of crystalline silicon wafers achieved with this technique. The 5 ms effective minority carrier lifetime measured on 1.5 Ω cm n‐type CZ silicon wafers is close to the 6 ms of a control wafer coated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of AlO_x. Hydrogen‐sputtered films also provide excellent passivation of 1 Ω cm p‐type silicon, as demonstrated by an effective lifetime of 1.1 ms. It is likely that the improved passivation is related to the formation of an interfacial silicon oxide layer, as indicated by FTIR measurements. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)