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Understanding the structure of Si nanoclusters in a/nc-Si:H films using spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Christopher R. Perrey ,
Siri S. Thompson ,
Markus Lentzen ,
Uwe Kortshagen  and
C. Barry Carter
Christopher R. Perrey
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, U.S.A.
Siri S. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, U.S.A.
Markus Lentzen
Affiliation:
Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Uwe Kortshagen
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, U.S.A.
C. Barry Carter*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, U.S.A.
*
*corresponding author: cbcarter@umn.edu
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Abstract

Recent work has shown that the electrical properties of hydrogenated amorphous Si films with nanocrystalline inclusions (a/nc-Si:H) make this material a promising candidate for applications in solar cells. The present study applies the technique of spherical aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy for the identification and analysis of the crystalline content of an a/nc-Si:H film. By varying both the spherical aberration of the objective lens and the defocus, regions of crystallinity in the a/nc-Si:H film can be identified. This study reports the analysis of Si nanoparticles of approximately 1.5 nm in size. Some of these nanoparticles contain planar defects, such as twin defects and stacking faults. All particles observed were the same crystal structure as bulk Si, which agrees with theoretical cluster calculations. Beam damage was observed in the amorphous matrix for long electron–beam exposures.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 808: Symposium A – Amorphous and Nanocrystaline Silicon Science and Technology-2004 , 2004 , A8.7
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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