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Title: Electron-trapping-triggered anneal of defect states in silicon-rich hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.365809· OSTI ID:530039
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Philips Research Laboratories, Professor Holstlaan 4, 5656 JA Eindhoven (The Netherlands)

The dc-current stress behavior of Mo/a-SiN{sub x}H{sub y}/Mo thin-film diodes is discussed for several a-SiN{sub x}H{sub y}-plasma-deposition conditions. Current transport is governed by thermionic field emission of electrons over a reverse biased Schottky barrier. The barrier height is determined by the a-SiN{sub x}H{sub y}-plasma-deposition conditions. Therefore these back-to-back Schottky devices provide an elegant way to perform dc-current stressing at several well defined carrier densities for similar stress fields. It is shown that such experiments allow assessment of defect-state creation/anneal mechanisms in a-SiN{sub x}H{sub y}. An electron-trapping-triggered anneal mechanism accounts for the observed dependence of the defect density at the electrode injecting contact (cathode) on the hole-barrier height at the anode. Also a new microscopically detailed anneal reaction scheme is proposed. The defect-state creation/anneal mechanism is expected to be generally applicable for all silicon-rich hydrogenated amorphous silicon alloys. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}

OSTI ID:
530039
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 82, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English