Effect of the Nitrogen Incorporation on the Microstructure and Photoelectric Properties of N Type Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films.

N type silicon-rich nanocrystalline-SiN(x) ∶ H films were prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique by changing NH3 flow rate. The effect of nitrogen incorporation on the microstructure and photoelectric properties of the thin films were characterized by Raman, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra, and Hall effect measurement. The results indicated that with the increasing NH3, a phase transition from microcrystalline to amorphous silicon occured. Transmission electron microscope observation revealed that the size of silicon quantum dots could be adjusted by varying the flow rate of NH3. The microstructure order of the films reduced with increasing the flow rate of NH3, while the optical band gap increased, and the optical band tail became narrow. Meanwhile, Si­N bonds density increased and P doping was blocked. I-V testing results showed that with increasing NH3, the conductivity of films first decreased compared with nanocrystalline-Si and then increased. These behaviors reveal a competition in the mechanisms controlling the conductivity. However, with further increasing NH3, the conductivity decreased significantly due to rapid carrier recombination on the amorphous net structure.

[The Influence of Oxygen Incorporation on the Microstructure and Band Gap Properties of the nc-Si Films].

The authors prepared nc-SiOx: H thin films using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition methods (PECVD) and investigated the influence of oxygen incorporation on the microstructure and band gap properties of the films. The results indicated that with the increase in oxygen mixing ratio (CO2/SiH4), the grain size of the nanocrystal-silicon grain as well as the crystallinity of the film reduced, and the surface tensile stress of the nanocrystal-silicon grain first increased and then decreased. Fourier infrared absorption spectra analysis indicated that, with the increase in oxygen mixing ratio, the intensity of the oxygen rich Si--O bond increased while that of the silicon rich Si--O bond decreased and the structure factor reduced in the meantime accompanied by the improved order degree of thin films. The structure factor increased when the oxygen mixing ratio exceeded 0.08, which shows that the order degree of thin films dropped. In addition, the optical gap increased and the band tail width first increased and then decreased as a result of the incorporation of the oxygen. As a result, the microstructure and band gap properties of the films can be controlled by incorporating oxygen. And the crystallinity and optical gap of the material was high, and the microstructure of the films was improved at the same time when the oxygen mixing ratio was 0. 08, so it can be used as intrinsic layer of the thin-film solar cells.