Turkish Journal of Physics
DOI
10.3906/fiz-1301-12
Abstract
The photoconductivity dependences on temperature and illumination intensity were investigated for thin films of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) grown by very-high-frequency, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The nanocrystalline phase was achieved by heavy hydrogen dilution of silane (SiH_4). We find that the activation energy of the photoconductivity is sensitive to the incident illumination intensity for illumination intensities below 6 mW/cm^2. The photocurrent follows a power-law dependence on illumination intensity (I_{ph}\propto F^{gamma}), with gamma ranging from 0.36 to 0.83. The illumination dependence of the photocurrent suggests 2 different recombination mechanisms depending on temperature. In the lower temperature regime (300-340 K), recombination appears to be dominated by a linear (monomolecular) process, while at higher temperatures (350-400 K), it is likely dominated by a sublinear (bimolecular) process.
Keywords
Photoconductivity, photovoltaics, nanocrystalline silicon, recombination
First Page
283
Last Page
288
Recommended Citation
SALEH, ZAKI M.; KMAIL, SALAM M.; ASSAF, SAMAH F.; and QASRAWI, ATIF F.
(2013)
"Recombination mechanisms in hydrogenated silicon nanocrystalline thin films,"
Turkish Journal of Physics: Vol. 37:
No.
3, Article 2.
https://doi.org/10.3906/fiz-1301-12
Available at:
https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/physics/vol37/iss3/2
