• Varache, R.; Favre, W.; Korte, L.; Kleider, J.P.: Influence of the amorphous/crystalline silicon heterostructure properties on planar conductance measurements. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 358 (2012), p. 2236-2240

10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2011.11.023

Abstract:
We report a quasi-analytical calculation describing the heterojunction between hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si) at equilibrium. It has been developed and used to determine the carrier sheet density in the strongly inverted layer at the a-Si:H c-Si interface. The model assumes an exponential band tail for the defect distribution in a-Si:H. The effects of the different parameters involved in the calculation are investigated in detail, such as the Fermi level position in a-Si:H, the density of states and the band offsets. The calculation was used to interpret temperature dependent planar conductance measurements carried out on (n) a-Si:H (p) c-Si and (p) a-Si:H/(n) c-Si structures, which allowed us to confirm a previous evaluation of the conduction band offset, DeltaEC = 0.18 ± 0.05 eV, and to evaluate the valence band offset: DeltaEV = 0.36 ± 0.05 eV at the a-Si:H c-Si heterojunction. The results are placed in the frame of recent publications.