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Light-induced Annealing of Deep Defects in Low Ge Fraction a-Si,Ge:H Alloys: Further Insights into the Fundamentals of Light-induced Degradation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2011

J.David Cohen ,
Jennifer Heath ,
Kimon C. Palinginis ,
Jeffrey C. Yang  and
Subhendu Guha
J.David Cohen
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, U.S.A.
Jennifer Heath
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, U.S.A.
Kimon C. Palinginis
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, U.S.A.
Jeffrey C. Yang
Affiliation:
United Solar Systems Corp., 1100 W. Maple Road, Troy, MI 48084, U.S.A.
Subhendu Guha
Affiliation:
United Solar Systems Corp., 1100 W. Maple Road, Troy, MI 48084, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Modulated photocurrent (MPC) was employed to study metastable deep defect creation and annealing in low Ge fraction a-Si,Ge:H alloys (Ge fractions below 10at.%). These MPC spectra reveal two distinct bands of deep defects identified as neutral Si and neutral Ge dangling bonds. Upon heating in the dark from a strongly light degraded state, these are reduced in direct competition to each other, therefore implying a global reconfiguration mechanism. We have extended our studies to compare purely thermal annealing with light-induced annealing in these alloys. We have found that the relative anneal rate for the two types of defects differs from the case of purely thermal annealing. This therefore tends to rule out models in which the rate limiting step during annealing comes from the release of the mediating entity from a remote site.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 664: Symposium A – Amorphous and Heterogeneous Silicon-Based Films-2001 , 2001 , A12.5
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2001

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References

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