Excellent passivation of thin silicon wafers by HF‐free hydrogen plasma etching using an industrial ICPECVD tool

In this work, hydrogen plasma etching of surface oxides was successfully accomplished on thin (～100 µm) planar n‐type Czochralski silicon wafers prior to intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon [a‐Si:H(i)] deposition for heterojunction solar cells, using an industrial inductively coupled plasma‐enhanced chemical vapour deposition (ICPECVD) platform. The plasma etching process is intended as a dry alternative to the conventional wet‐chemical hydrofluoric acid (HF) dip for solar cell processing. After symmetrical deposition of an a‐Si:H(i) passivation layer, high effective carrier lifetimes of up to 3.7 ms are obtained, which are equivalent to effective surface recombination velocities of 1.3 cm s^–1 and an implied open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) of 741 mV. The passivation quality is excellent and comparable to other high quality a‐Si:H(i) passivation. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy shows evidence of plasma‐silicon interactions and a sub‐nanometre interfacial layer. Using electron energy‐loss spectroscopy, this layer is further investigated and confirmed to be hydrogenated suboxide layers. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Composition of oxygen precipitates in Czochralski silicon wafers investigated by STEM with EDX/EELS and FTIR spectroscopy

In this work, we investigated the stoichiometry of oxygen precipitates in Czochralski silicon wafers. The thickness dependence of the Cliff–Lorimer sensitivity factor for the silicon/oxygen system was determined and applied for the investigation of the stoichiometry of oxygen precipitates by EDX. The results show that both plate‐like oxygen precipitates and a transitional form between plate‐like and octahedral precipi‐ tates consist of SiO₂. This was confirmed by EELS low loss spectra where the typical spectrum for amorphous SiO₂ was observed. Moreover, the absorption band of plate‐like precipitates at 1227 cm^–1 was found in the low temperature FTIR spectrum. It was demonstrated that this band can only be simulated by the dielectric constants of amorphous SiO₂. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Level 17 Ramanujan–Sato series

The Ramanujan Journal - Two level 17 modular functions $$\begin{aligned} r = q^2 \prod _{n=1}^{\infty } (1-q^{n})^{\left( \frac{n}{17} \right) },\qquad s = q^{2} \prod _{n=1}^{\infty } \frac{(1 -...     

Crystal growth, spectroscopy, and diode pumped laser performance of Pr,?Mg:SrAl12O19

Polarization dependent ground state absorption, excited state absorption and emission cross sections of Pr,?Mg:SrAl₁₂O₁₉ are determined in the visible and ultraviolet spectral region. It is shown that excited state absorption to the 4f5d configuration does neither occur on the pump wavelength in the blue region nor on any of the visible laser transitions. Efficient laser action at 643.5?nm is demonstrated with slope efficiencies of up to 47% with respect to the absorbed pump power. Output powers up to 75?mW are achieved by pumping with an InGaN laser diode at 444?nm.     

Spin dynamics near the Lifshitz point

Spin dynamics in the vicinity of Lifshitz points associated with Heisenberg and planar ferromagnets and antiferromagnets is discussed. Mode coupling arguments are used to obtain the dynamic exponents and the temperature dependence of the diffusion constants.     

Time-of-flight studies of emission of μt from frozen hydrogen films

In recent TRIUMF experiments, a μ^- beam is stopped in a solid hydrogen film with a small fraction of T₂. The Ramsauer-Townsend (RT) mechanism allows μt to escape into vacuum with a few eV of energy. To study the emission process, an imaging system was used to determine the position of muon decays. Experimental histograms are in good agreement with a Monte Carlo simulation. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

EID study on the system platinum-hydrogen

Electron induced desorption of hydrogen on polycrystalline platinum has been studied in continuation of former work. The results remain consistent with a supposed adsorption model implying that electron induced H⁺ emission is restricted to hydrogen adsorbed only at particular sites occupying not more than 1 per cent coverage. These sites are ascribed to characteristic and stable surface impurities which are not influenced by the improved target treatment applied. Depletion of sites by sputter cleaning is cancelled by recovery during annealing. The highest observed H⁺ yield (all available sites filled with hydrogen) is 2 · 10⁻⁵ ions per electron. The total cross section for desorption by electron impact is 2 · 10⁻¹⁷ cm². Complex interaction phenomena between the electrons and the hydrogen covered platinum surface have been observed.