The influence of hydrogen dilution on the optoelectronic and structural properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide films

Abstract Amorphous silicon carbide films were deposited by the plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique in SiH4-CH4-H2 gas mixtures and the effect of hydrogen dilution on the optoelectronic properties investigated using photo-thermal deflection spectroscopy, photoconductivity and dark electrical conductivity, photoluminescence and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Large H2 dilution leads to materials of improved quality whose E g is about 2.0eV. The materials were also incorporated into a solar cell device structure to confirm our conclusions.