HIGHLY CONDUCTIVE AND HIGHLY TRANSPARENT N-TYPE MICROCRYSTALLINE SILICON THIN-FILMS

The aim of this paper is to present data on the dependence of the elec tro-optical characteristics and structure of n-type microcrystalline s ilicon films on the r.f. power used during the deposition of films pro duced by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique. The interest of these films arise from the fact that they combine some el ectro-optical advantages of amorphous (wide optical gap) and crystalli ne materials (electronic behaviour), highly interesting in the product ion of a wide variety of optoelectronic devices such as solar cells an d thin film transistors. In this paper, microcrystalline n-type films presenting simultaneously optical gaps of about 2.3 eV, dark conductiv ity of 6.5 S cm(-1) and Hall mobility of about 0.86 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) wi ll be reported, the highest combined values for n-type microcrystallin e silicon films, as far as we know. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.