Abstract
A light-induced increase in the dark conductivity is observed in composite thin films consisting of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) containing nanocrystalline germanium (nc-Ge) inclusions, synthesized by co-deposition in a dual-chamber plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. Unlike the Staebler-Wronski effect or persistent photoconductivity observed in amorphous semiconductors, this photo-induced excess conductivity is observed even in composite nc-Ge/a-Si:H films with a minimal photosensitivity. The decay of the excess conductivity follows a single-exponential time dependence, with a temperature independent time constant. We propose that spatial separation of photo-excited charge carriers by the compositional morphology present in the film, with tunneling of photo-excited holes into the germanium nanocrystalline inclusions, is involved in the creation and removal of this effect.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Article number | 165102 |
Journal | Journal of Applied Physics |
Volume | 124 |
Issue number | 16 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 28 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2018 Author(s).