Optical,structural, electrical and optoelectronic properties of hydrogenated amorphous Si1−x C x alloy thin films prepared by planar magnetron sputtering method

Amorphous Si_1–xC_x: H thin films were prepared by the rf magnetron sputtering method using a composite target of silicon and graphite. The dependence of the optical, structural, electrical, and optoelectronic properties on the carbon contentx was investigated, by measuring the optical absorption spectra, ir spectra, dark conductivity, photoconductivity and ESCA spectra. The optical gap was found to be unchanged with increasingx below about 0.6, in spite of the increase in the amount of the SiC bond. This is considered to be due to the formation of the carbon clusters. It is found that the photosensitivity shows a maximum at aboutx = 0.2, and is about one order of magnitude larger than the film withx = 0. This is related to the decrease in the dark conductivity, which is ascribed both to the formation of the SiC bond and to the reorganization of the defect-rich structure of sputter-deposited amorphous Si by the addition of about 20% carbon. The photoconductive effect was gradually lost in the range ofx above 0.6. In this range, the optical gap increases rapidly owing to the rapid increase of the SiC bond.