New development in the study of amorphous silicon hydrogen alloys: The story of O

Abstract

We present results of dark-conductivity, photoconductivity, photoluminescence, and optical-absorption experiments on films of sputtered oxygenated amorphous-silicon-hydrogen alloys (a-Si1-xHx). Films with oxygen (O) are shown to behave much more like glow-discharge-produced a-Si1-xHx than do O-free films. O is found to enter the amorphous matrix predominantly in an Si-O-Si bridging configuration. Defects associated with the presence of H are shown to be likely centers for radiative recombination, while both O and H may be associated with locally deformable defects. © 1978 The American Physical Society.