The Effect of Hydrogen Dilution on the Deposition of Sige Alloys and the Device Stability

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe have studied the structural and transport properties of a-Si1−x Gex:H alloys made by DC glow discharge of SiH4 and GeH4 with substantial amount of H2 dilution. The dilution ratio, i.e. H2/(SiH4 + GeH4), was varied up to 40:1. IR spectroscopy revealed that H2 dilution greatly suppresses the tendency of forming microvoids due to Ge incorporation. Photoconductivity and ambipolar diffusion length, which represent transport properties of electrons and holes respectively, are also significantly improved by using H2 dilution. At a dilution ratio of 20:1, the electron υτ product reached 10-6 cm2/V at a bandgap 1.55 eV which is even larger than that of a device quality a-Si:H. Solar cells using alloy i-layers made with H2 dilution were fabricated. The stability of the devices under light exposure was found to be much improved with increasing H2 dilution, suggesting a strong correlation between the stability and the density of microvoids.