Ex situ and in situ defect density measurements of a-Si:H by means of the cavity ring down absorption technique

Abstract

ABSTRACTFor the first time it is demonstrated that the surface defect density can be measured using the cavity ring down (CRD) absorption technique and it is shown that CRD is more sensitive for surface defects than dual beam photoconductivity (DBP) technique. Ex situ measurements have shown that the surface defects of the oxidized a-Si:H surface are distributed over a surface region with thickness W(d). The obtained surface defect density is 1.0 × 1012 up to 1.4 × 1012 cm-2. During growth the a-Si:H surface defect density region has at least a thickness of 15 nm. During deposition of 15 nm a-Si:H the surface density increases up to a not yet saturated value of 1×1013 cm-2.