Structural, optical, and electrical studies of amorphous hydrogenated germanium

High-density, non-porous, highly photoconductive films of amorphous hydrogenated germanium (a-Ge:H) showing minimal microstructure were prepared using the r.f. glow discharge method out of a gas plasma of GeH 4 and H 2. These films, deposited onto substrates mounted on the powered electrode of a dio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solar cells 1991-05, Vol.30 (1), p.245-254
Main Authors: Turner, W.A., Jones, S.J., Li, Y.M., Pang, D., Wetsel, A.E., Paul, W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Natural energy
Photovoltaic conversion
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar energy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:High-density, non-porous, highly photoconductive films of amorphous hydrogenated germanium (a-Ge:H) showing minimal microstructure were prepared using the r.f. glow discharge method out of a gas plasma of GeH 4 and H 2. These films, deposited onto substrates mounted on the powered electrode of a diode reactor, showed remarkable improvement over codeposited material taken from the unpowered electrode. Films were also prepared under the systematic variation of substrate temperature, discharge power, and dilution of the plasma by H 2. For the reactor geometry used, dilution of the plasma is found to be essential to the preparation of high-quality a-Ge:H. The conditions for the preparation of optimized a-Ge:H material were quite different from those found to produce optimized a-Si:H in this reactor. We assert this to be the principal cause of the finding of inferior properties for a-SiGe:H alloys when compared with a-Si:H.
ISSN:0379-6787
1878-2655
DOI:10.1016/0379-6787(91)90056-U