Glow discharge amorphous silicon tin alloys

Conference · Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6898056

Mahan, A H; Sanchez, A; Williamson, D L; von Roedern, B; Madan, A

We present basic density of states, photoresponse, and transport measurements made on low bandgap a-SiSn:H alloys produced by RF glow discharge deposition of SiH/sub 4/, H/sub 2/ and Sn(CH/sub 3/)/sub 4/. Although we demonstrate major changes in the local bonding structure and the density of states, the normalized photoresponse still remains poor. We provide evidence that two types of defect levels are produced with Sn alloying, and that the resultant density of states increase explains not only the n- to p-type conductivity transition reported earlier, but also the photoresponse behavior. We also report that a-SiSn:H can be doped with P. From our device analysis we suggest that in order to improve the alloy performance significantly, the density of states should be decreased to levels comparable to or lower than those presently obtained in a-Si:H.

• Research Organization: Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (USA); Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City; Colorado School of Mines, Golden (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 6898056
• Report Number(s): SERI/TP-212-2355; CONF-840561-21; ON: DE84013001
• Conference Information: 17. IEEE photovoltaic specialists conference, Kissimmee, FL, USA, 1 May 1984
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601 -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
ALLOYS
AMORPHOUS STATE
CHEMICAL COATING
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
DEPOSITION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
EQUIPMENT
GLOW DISCHARGES
HYDROGENATED AMORPHOUS SILICON BASED ALLOYS
MULTIJUNCTION THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
SILICON ALLOYS
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SURFACE COATING
TIN ALLOYS