Effective density of states profiles of heterogeneous microcrystalline silicon

TL;DR

This study investigates how microstructural differences in microcrystalline silicon affect its photoconductivity and density of states, using experimental measurements and numerical modeling to understand the underlying electronic properties.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis linking microstructure to density of states profiles and phototransport behavior in microcrystalline silicon.

Findings

Photoconductivity varies with microstructure and temperature.

Numerical models successfully explain different phototransport behaviors.

Density of states profiles correlate with microstructural attributes.

Abstract

The steady state photoconductivity as a function of temperature and light intensity was measured on plasma deposited highly crystalline undoped hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon films possessing different thicknesses and microstructures. Different phototransport behaviors were observed experimentally in films having dissimilar microstructural attributes. This has been explained by numerical modeling to link these behaviors to different features of the proposed density of states maps of the material.