Topic
Amorphous silicon
About: Amorphous silicon is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 26777 publications have been published within this topic receiving 423234 citations.
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TL;DR: In this paper, an amorphous silicon carbide n -layer (n-SiC) was introduced to avoid open-circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) losses on textured substrates.
Abstract: We investigate amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film solar cells in the n-i-p or substrate configuration that allows the use of nontransparent and flexible substrates such as metal or plastic foils such as polyethylene- naphtalate (PEN). A substrate texture is used to scatter the light at each interface, which increases the light trapping in the active layer. In the first part, we investigate the relationship between the substrate morphology and the short circuit current, which can be increased by 20% compared to the case of flat substrate. In the second part, we investigate cell designs that avoid open-circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF) losses that are often observed on textured substrates. We introduce an amorphous silicon carbide n -layer (n-SiC), a buffer layer at the n/i interface, and show that the new cell design yields high Voc and FF on both flat and textured substrates. Furthermore, we investigate the relation between voids or nanocrack formations in the intrinsic layer and the textured substrate. It reveals that the initial growth of the amorphous layer is affected by the doped layer which itself is influenced by the textured substrate. Finally, the beneficial effect of our optical and electrical findings is used to fabricate a-Si:H solar cell on PEN substrate with an initial efficiency of 8.8% for an i -layer thickness of 270 nm. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.
155 citations
TL;DR: The physics and chemistry of amorphous silicon oxynitride films are reviewed in this paper, where phenomena such as diffusion mechanisms, oxidation kinetics, defects and charge trapping are given special attention.
Abstract: The physics and chemistry of amorphous silicon oxynitride films are reviewed. Since the main applications of these materials are in the manufacture of Si-based integrated circuits (ICs), phenomena such as diffusion mechanisms, oxidation kinetics, defects and charge trapping are given special attention. Mature thin-film technologies to form oxynitride layers are in the various types of chemical vapour deposition and thermal processing in NH3 and N2O. Determined by their growth process, oxynitrides contain a certain amount of hydrogen which is shown to play a key role in the reactivity of these materials. Once this is understood, it is possible to relate the properties of a wide range of oxynitrides to their composition and the micro-chemistry involved.
155 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a pixel circuit using hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film transistors (TFTs), composed of three switching and one driving TFT, for active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) with a voltage source method was proposed.
Abstract: We propose a new pixel circuit using hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin-film transistors (TFTs), composed of three switching and one driving TFT, for active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLEDs) with a voltage source method. The circuit simulation results based on the measured threshold voltage shift of a-Si:H TFTs by gate-bias stress indicate that this circuit compensates for the threshold voltage shifts over 10000 h of operation.
155 citations
Patent•
31 Aug 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, a method for forming polycrystalline silicon thin films by converting an amorphous silicon thin film into the polycrystaline silicon-thin film using a metal is presented.
Abstract: Apparatus and method for forming a polycrystalline silicon thin film by converting an amorphous silicon thin film into the polycrystalline silicon thin film using a metal are provided. The method includes: a metal nucleus adsorbing step of introducing a vapor phase metal compound into a process space where the glass substrate having the amorphous silicon formed thereon is disposed, to adsorb a metal nucleus contained in the metal compound into the amorphous silicon layer; a metal nucleus distribution region-forming step of forming a community region including a plurality of silicon particles every metal nucleus in a plane boundary region occupied by the metal compound by a self-limited mechanism due to the adsorption of the metal nucleus; and an excess gas removing step of purging and removing an excess gas which is not adsorbed in the metal nucleus distribution region-forming step.
154 citations
TL;DR: In this article, surface passivation of high resistivity silicon (HRS) by amorphous silicon thin-film deposition is demonstrated as a novel technique for establishing HRS as a microwave substrate.
Abstract: Surface passivation of high-resistivity silicon (HRS) by amorphous silicon thin-film deposition is demonstrated as a novel technique for establishing HRS as a microwave substrate. Metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) capacitor measurements are used to characterize the silicon surface properties. An increase of the quality factor (Q) of a 10-nH spiral inductor by 40% to Q=15 and a 6.5-dB lower attenuation of a coplanar waveguide (CPW) at 17 GHz indicate the beneficial effect of the surface passivation for radio frequency (RF) and microwave applications. Regarding CPW attenuation, a nonpassivated 3000-/spl Omega//spl middot/cm substrate is equivalent to a 70-/spl Omega//spl middot/cm passivated substrate. Surface-passivated HRS, having minimum losses, a high permittivity, and a high thermal conductivity, qualifies as a close-to-ideal radio frequency and microwave substrate.
154 citations