Electronic and topographic properties of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon thin films

Electronic properties of microcrystalline silicon (muc-Si) thin films prepa red by different techniques are presented and compared to that of device-gr ade, undoped, hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). It is found that wha tever the preparation technique, the conductivity of muc-Si is significantl y larger and the mobility-lifetime products and ambipolar diffusion lengths of optimised layers can be higher than in a-Si:H. Tn addition, no light-in duced degradation of electronic properties is observed. Local topographic a nd electrical probing results on muc-Si films are also shown. The surface r oughness of muc-Si samples depends on the preparation technique, but a comm on aging phenomenon in the local electrical probing is found and described. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.