Fine Tuning of the Spectral Sensitivity in a-SiC:H Stacked p-i'i-n Graded Cells

Abstract

It is presented in this work a p(a-SiC:H)/i(a-SiC:H)/i((a-Si:H)/ n(a-Si:H) single junction for application in color sensing domain produced with the PECVD technique. The interest of this device resides in its simplicity of realization and utilization, as it takes advantage from the well known properties of the a-Si:H p-i-n junctions together with the possibility of color filtering by tailoring the optical gap of a-Si:H with the introduction of a small percentage of Carbon. The thicknesses of the i(200 nm) and i (1000 nm) layers are optimized for light absorption in the blue and red ranges, respectively. Measurements of the spectral response under forward and reverse polarization show a dependence of the wavelength of the maximum absorption on the intensity of the applied bias. A comparison of the photocurrent reading with and without a 650 nm background DC optical bias permits a complete separation of blue and red color under reverse and forward applied bias, respectively. The application of the LSP technique (AC regime of the optical bias) permits a complete RGB reading of the incoming light. Simulation results obtained with the program ASCA will support and explain the measurements about spectral response and photocurrent reading under DC and AC regimes.