Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T03:32:49.682Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Study of Er-related Defects in a-Si:H(Er) Films Used in Light Emitting Heterostructures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

A. Nazarov ,
Ja. Vovk ,
V. Lysenko ,
O. Kon'kov ,
E. Terukov  and
S. Ashok
A. Nazarov
Affiliation:
Institute of Semiconductor Physics, NASU, Prospekt Nauki 45, 03028 Kyiv, UKRAINE.
Ja. Vovk
Affiliation:
Institute of Semiconductor Physics, NASU, Prospekt Nauki 45, 03028 Kyiv, UKRAINE.
V. Lysenko
Affiliation:
Institute of Semiconductor Physics, NASU, Prospekt Nauki 45, 03028 Kyiv, UKRAINE.
O. Kon'kov
Affiliation:
Ioffe Physical and Technical Institute, RAS, Politechnicheskaya str. 26, 194021 Sankt Petersburg, RUSSIA.
E. Terukov
Affiliation:
Ioffe Physical and Technical Institute, RAS, Politechnicheskaya str. 26, 194021 Sankt Petersburg, RUSSIA.
S. Ashok
Affiliation:
Departement of Engineering Science, Pennsylvania State University, 212 Earth and Engineering Science Building, University Park, PA 16802, U.S.A.
Get access

Abstract

Defects relating to Er-doping of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films in amorphous/ crystalline (a-Si:H(Er) / n-Si) heterostructures used as light emitters were studied. Electrical parameters of the defects were evaluated by thermally activated current (TAC) and capacitance (TACap) spectroscopy, and high-frequency (1 MHz) capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics measured at 77 K. For charging of the traps, visible light illumination at low temperatures and thermal-bias stress at various temperatures were used. The amplitude of TAC was found to increase monotonically with increase of Er concentration in the a-Si:H film. The traps, with activation energies in the range 0.10 - 0.35 eV and 0.5 - 0.6 eV, were charged under both light and thermal-bias stress, and may be associated with the deep levels in the band-gap of a-Si:H. High-temperature current peaks with activation energies of 0.8-0.9 eV emerged only under thermal-bias stress and were strongly dependent on the charging temperature. It is suggested that these high-temperature thermally activated processes are related to polarization of the Er-O bonds in the amorphous matrix of a-Si:H. C-V measurements show that charging of the structure by negative substrate bias leads to net electron trapping in the a-Si:H(Er) film, whereas charging by positive bias result in net hole trapping. The model of Er-related electroluminescence in a-Si:H(Er) / n-Si heterostructures involving electron-hole recombination via deep levels located in the vicinity of [Er-O] inclusions is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 719: Symposium F – Defect- and Impurity-Engineered Semiconductors and Devices III , 2002 , F8.42
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Gusev, O. V., Kuznetsov, A. N., Terukov, E. I., Bresler, M. S., Kudoyarova, V. Kh., Yasievich, I. N., Zakharchenya, B. P. and Fuhs, W., Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 240 (1997)Google Scholar
2. Bresler, M. S., Gusev, O. B., Terukov, E. I., Yasievich, I. N., Zakharchenya, B. P., Emel'yanov, V. I., Kamenev, B. V., Kashkarov, P. K., Konstantinova, E. A. and Timoshenko, V. Yu., Materials Science and Engineering B81, 52 (2001).Google Scholar
3. Vovk, Ja., Nazarov, A., Lysenko, V., Kon'kov, O. and Terukov, E., Physica B308-310, 382 (2001)Google Scholar
4. Marakhonov, V., Rogachev, N., Ishkalov, J., Marakhonov, J., Terukov, E. and Chelnokov, V., J. Non-Cryst. Sol. 137-138, 817 (1991).Google Scholar
5. Terukov, E. I., Kon'kov, O. I., Kudoyarova, V. Kh., Gusev, O. B. and Weiser, G., Semiconductors 32, 884 (1998)Google Scholar
6. Gobrecht, H. and Hofmann, D., J. Phys. Chem. Solids 27, 509 (1966)Google Scholar
7. Masterov, V. F., Nasredinov, F. S., Seregin, P. P., Terukov, E. I. and Mezdrogina, M. M., Semiconductors 32, 636 (1998)Google Scholar
8. Krivtzov, B. A., Gorshkova, E. A., Zhukova, T. B., Kuznetsov, V. L., Malinina, Ch. R. and Prokof'eva, L. V., Point Defects in Metal-IV Group Compounds (Rare Earth Metal Oxides and Lead Chalogenides), (Leningrad, FTI, 1988) pp.3–44 (in Russian).Google Scholar
9. Gusev, O. B., Bresler, M. S., Zakharchenya, B. P., Kuznetsov, A. N., Pak, P. E., Terukov, E. I., Tsendin, K. D. and Yasievich, I. N., Physics of Solid State 41, 185 (1999)Google Scholar
10. Föster, T., Disscuss. Faraday Soc. 27, 7 (1959)Google Scholar
11. Kühne, H., Weiser, G., Terukov, E. I., Kusnetsov, A. N. and Kudoyarova, V. Kh., J. Appl. Phys. 86, 896 (1999)Google Scholar