Influence of microstructure on the photoconductivity of glow discharge deposited amorphous SiC:H and amorphous SiGe:H alloys

Abstract

We introduce a parameter obtained from infrared measurements as a means of quantifying the amount of amorphous silicon microstructure and its degree of passivation by hydrogen. Using this parameter, the photoconductivities of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), amorphous silicon carbon (a-SiC:H), and amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe:H) fall on the same curve. We discuss the relevance of these results with regard to material quality.