0000000000230154
AUTHOR
Daniel Hiller
Optical emission fromSiO2-embedded silicon nanocrystals: A high-pressure Raman and photoluminescence study
We investigate the optical properties of high-quality Si nanocrystals $(\mathrm{NCs})/\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ multilayers under high hydrostatic pressure with Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The aim of our study is to shed light on the origin of the optical emission of the Si $\mathrm{NCs}/\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$. The Si NCs were produced by chemical-vapor deposition of Si-rich oxynitride $(\mathrm{SRON})/\mathrm{Si}{\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ multilayers with 5- and 4-nm SRON layer thicknesses on fused silica substrates and subsequent annealing at 1150 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C, which resulted in the precipitation of Si NCs with an average size of 4.1 a…
Silicon Surface Passivation by ALD-Ga2O3: Thermal vs. Plasma-Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition
Silicon surface passivation by gallium oxide (Ga2O3) thin films deposited by thermal- and plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) over a broad temperature range from 75 °C to 350 °C is investigated. In addition, the role of oxidant (O3 or O-plasma) pulse lengths insufficient for saturated ALD-growth is studied. The material properties are analyzed including the quantification of the incorporated hydrogen. We find that oxidant dose pulses insufficient for saturation provide for both ALD methods generally better surface passivation. Furthermore, different Si surface pretreatments are compared (HF-last, chemically grown oxide, and thermal tunnel oxide). In contrast to previous reports, t…
Kinetics of Bulk Lifetime Degradation in Float‐Zone (FZ) Silico n : Fast Activation and Annihilation of Grown‐In Defects and the Role of Hydrogen vs Light
Float-zone (FZ) silicon often has grown-in defects that are thermally activated in a broad temperature window (≈300–800 °C). These defects cause efficient electron-hole pair recombination, which deteriorates the bulk minority carrier lifetime and thereby possible photovoltaic conversion efficiencies. Little is known so far about these defects which are possibly Si-vacancy/nitrogen-related (VxNy). Herein, it is shown that the defect activation takes place on sub-second timescales, as does the destruction of the defects at higher temperatures. Complete defect annihilation, however, is not achieved until nitrogen impurities are effused from the wafer, as confirmed by secondary ion mass spectro…