Is light-induced degradation of a-Si:H/oSi interfaces reversible?

El Mahdi El Mhamdi, Jakub Holovsky, Benedicte Demaurex, Christophe Ballif, Stefaan De Wolf*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

Thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films deposited on crystalline silicon (oSi) surfaces are sensitive probes for the bulk electronic properties of a-Si:H. Here, we use such samples during repeated low- Temperature annealing and visible-light soaking to investigate the long- Term stability of a-Si:H films. We observe that during annealing the electronic improvement of the interfaces follows stretched exponentials as long as hydrogen evolution in the films can be detected. Once such evolution is no longer observed, the electronic improvement occurs much faster. Based on these findings, we discuss how the reversibility of light-induced defects depends on (the lack of observable) hydrogen evolution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number252108
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume104
Issue number25
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 23 2014
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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