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Electrical Conductivity and Structural Order of p-Type Amorphous Silicon Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

K. Shrestha ,
D. Whitfield ,
V. C. Lopes ,
A. J. Syllaios  and
C.L. Littler
K. Shrestha
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 75203, USA
D. Whitfield
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 75203, USA
V. C. Lopes
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 75203, USA
A. J. Syllaios
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 75203, USA
C.L. Littler
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 75203, USA
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Abstract

The dependence of dark conductivity and room temperature Raman spectra on boron and hydrogen incorporation in thin films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition was investigated. It was found that the dominant conductivity is Mott variable range hopping conduction. However, at lower temperatures, Efros-Shklosvkii hopping conduction is observed and contributes to the total conductivity. For structural characterization, transverse optical (TO) and transverse acoustic (TA) modes of the Raman spectra were studied to relate changes in short- and mid-range order to the effects of boron and hydrogen incorporation. With an increase of hydrogen incorporation and/or substrate temperature, both short and mid-range order improve, whereas the addition of boron results in the degradation of the short range order. The line width and frequency of the Raman TO Raman peak correlate with electrical measurements and suggest that this technique can be used for non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H.

Keywords

electrical propertiesRaman spectroscopySi
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1757: Symposium UU – Structure-Property Relations in Amorphous Solids , 2015 , mrsf14-1757-uu10-08
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

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References

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