Role of charged defects in current transport through hydrogenated amorphous silicon alloys

Shu Ping Lau, J. M. Shannon, B. J. Sealy, J. M. Marshall

Research output: Journal article publicationConference articleAcademic researchpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Current transport in metal-semiconductor-metal structures based on amorphous silicon alloys has been studied in relation to the density of dangling bond state defects. The density of defects was changed by varying alloy composition or by current stressing. We show that the change of current-voltage characteristics and activation energy with defect density and the onset of Poole-Frenkel conduction with composition require charged defects. It is found that there are more charged defects in amorphous silicon nitride (a-Si1-xNx:H) than in amorphous silicon carbide (a-Si1-xCx:H). In addition, an excess of negatively charged dangling bond defects compared to positively charged dangling bond defects is observed in a-Si1-xNx:H films. This is attributed to the presence of N4+act as the donor states in silicon nitride. We find that the density of charged dangling bond defects can be higher than 1019cm-3.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)655-660
Number of pages6
JournalMaterials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings
Volume507
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 1999
Externally publishedYes
EventProceedings of the 1998 MRS Spring Meeting - San Francisco, CA, United States
Duration: 14 Apr 199817 Apr 1998

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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