Unification of the time and temperature dependence of dangling-bond-defectcreation and removal in amorphous-silicon thin-film transistors

We present a thermalization-energy concept that unifies the time and temper ature dependence of Si dangling-bond-defect creation and removal in amorpho us-silicon thin-film transistors. There is a distribution of energy barrier s for defect creation and removal, with the most probable energy barrier be ing 1.0 eV for defect creation and between 1.1 and 1.5 eV for defect remova l, depending on how the defects were initially created. We suggest defect c reation proceeds via Si-Si bond breaking, whereas defect removal proceeds b y release of H from a SiHD complex. [S0163-1829 (98)00243-4].