Photodarkening and bleaching in amorphous silicon nitride

Journal Article · Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Applied Physics Letters; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.104089· OSTI ID:6337616

Seager, C H ^[1]; Kanicki, J ^[2]

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1. Solid State Physics Division, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM (USA)
2. IBM Research Division, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (USA)

UV-induced enhancement of the subgap optical absorption has been observed in thin films of chemically vapor deposited silicon nitride. The threshold for this process is {similar to}4 eV. Visible light bleaches out much of the enhanced absorption and 200--400 {degree}C thermal anneals remove the rest, leaving the optical properties of the nitride in the as-grown'' state. The characteristics of this creation and bleaching process suggest that UV light optically dethermalizes'' the distribution of carriers in localized band tail states. Correlation of our data with recent electron spin resonance results suggests that many of the trapped carriers may be singly occupied silicon dangling bonds.

• OSTI ID: 6337616
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters; (USA), Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters; (USA) Vol. 57:14; ISSN APPLA; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360603* -- Materials-- Properties
BLEACHING
CHARGE CARRIERS
CHEMICAL COATING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
DEPOSITION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PNICTIDES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON NITRIDES
SURFACE COATING
THRESHOLD ENERGY
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION