The optoelectric properties of a-SiGe:H alloys, deposited by the plasm
a chemical vapor deposition (plasma-CVD) method, were investigated wit
h precise measurement of their germanium content (C(Ge)) and hydrogen
content (CH). This investigation revealed that the optical gap of a-Si
Ge: H alloys can be approximated by a linear function of C(H) and C(Ge
) and various combinations Of CH and C(Ge) resulted in identical optic
al gaps. For each optical gap, the optimum composition for the lowest
defect density was derived by comparison with the subgap absorptions m
easured by the constant photocurrent method (CPM). Based on these, the
highest conversion efficiency of 3.7% under red light illumination (>
650 nm) for a 1 CM2 a-SiGe single-junction solar cell was achieved.