Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-wxvwp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T18:15:47.859Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Al/ZnO/a-SiGe:H: A System Protected by the ZnO Buffer from Metal-Induced Crystallization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

F. Edelman,
R. Brener,
C. Cytermann,
R. Weil,
C. Beneking,
W. Beyer,
W. Skorupa,
R. Yankov and
P. Werner
F. Edelman
Affiliation:
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Materials Engineering Faculty and Solid State Institute, Haifa, Israel, edelmann@tx.technion.ac.il
R. Brener
Affiliation:
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Materials Engineering Faculty and Solid State Institute, Haifa, Israel, edelmann@tx.technion.ac.il
C. Cytermann
Affiliation:
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Materials Engineering Faculty and Solid State Institute, Haifa, Israel, edelmann@tx.technion.ac.il
R. Weil
Affiliation:
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Materials Engineering Faculty and Solid State Institute, Haifa, Israel, edelmann@tx.technion.ac.il
C. Beneking
Affiliation:
Institute of Thin Films and Ion Technology (ISI), Research Center Jiilich, Germany
W. Beyer
Affiliation:
Institute of Thin Films and Ion Technology (ISI), Research Center Jiilich, Germany
W. Skorupa
Affiliation:
Research Center Rossendorf Inc. and Institute of Ion Beam Physics, Dresden, Germany
R. Yankov
Affiliation:
Research Center Rossendorf Inc. and Institute of Ion Beam Physics, Dresden, Germany
P. Werner
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle/Saale, Germany.
Get access

Abstract

Metal-Induced-Crystallization (MIC) by the contact of amorphous semiconductors with metals is one of the degradation factors in solar cells. This study has been made on the barrier properties of a ZnO layer between undoped a-SiGe:H and Al metallization films in the structure (001)Si/SiO2/a-SiGe:H/ZnO/Al. Plasma assisted CVD deposition was used to produce a-Si1.xGex:H (x=0 to 1) undoped films over thermally oxidized Si-wafers. There were covered with 500Å and 1000Å thick transparent conductive layers of ZnO. Al and then 1000Å thick films of Al. A set of Al-implanted a-Si, a-Ge, and a-Sio.5Geo.5 films on Si/SiO2 substrates was also prepared to study MIC in an amorphous system with dispersed Al. The structures were annealed in vacuum in the temperature range of 200°C to 400°C for lh. X-ray diffraction studies demonstrated the a-SiGe:H stability against crystallization under ZnO protection up to 400°C. Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy didn't reveal any noticeable redistribution of Al inside Al-implanted a-Si:H and a-Si0.5Ge0.5:H samples after annealing at 400°C for lh, but strong Al diffusion was seen in the a-Ge:H layer. Nevertheless, no MIC was observed in any of the Al-implanted a-materials.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

1. Bosnell, J.R. and Voisey, U.C., Thin Solid Films, 6, p. 161 (1970);Google Scholar
Herd, S., Chaudhari, P., and Brodsky, M.H., J. Non-Crystal. Solids, 7, p. 309 (1972).Google Scholar
2. Harris, J.M., Blattner, R.J., Ward, I.D., Evans, C.A. Jr, Fraser, H.L., Nicolet, M.-A., and Rarailler, C.L., J. Appl. Phys. 48, p. 2, 897 (1977).Google Scholar
3. Tsai, C.T., Nemanich, R.J., and Thompson, N.J., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 21, p. 632 (1982).Google Scholar
4. Robertsson, A.E., Hultman, L.G., Hentzell, H.T.G., Hornstrom, S.E., Shaofang, G., and Psaras, P.A., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A5, p. 1, 447 (1987);Google Scholar
Hultman, L., Robertsson, A., Hentzell, H.T.G., Engstrom, I., and Psaras, P.A., J. Appl. Phys. 62, p. 647 (1987);Google Scholar
Gong, S.F. and Hentzel, H.T.G., J. Appl. Phys. 68, p. 542 (1990).Google Scholar
5. Haque, M.S., Naseem, H.A., and Brown, W.D., J. Appl. Phys. 79, p. 7, 529 (1996);Google Scholar
Haque, M.S., Naseem, H.A., and Brown, W.D., J. Appl. Phys. 75, p. 3, 928 (1994).Google Scholar
6. Blum, N. and Feldman, C., J. non-crystall. Solids, 11, p. 242 (1972).Google Scholar
7. Edelman, F., Weil, R., Werner, P., Reiche, M., and Beyer, W., phys. stat. sol. (a) 150, p. 407 (1995).Google Scholar
8. Bilger, G., Eicke, A., and Bauer, G.H., in: 19th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conf. Sept., 1987, Nevada, ed. by Flood, D., IEEE, 1987, p. 171.Google Scholar
9. Minami, T., Sonohara, H., Takata, S., and Fukuda, I., J. Vac. Sci. Technol., A13, p. 1, 053 (1995).Google Scholar
10. Craciun, V., Elders, J., Gardeniers, J.G.E., Geretovsky, J., and Boyd, I.W., Thin Solid Films, 259, p.l (1995).Google Scholar
11. Carlson, D.E., Phil. Mag. B63, p. 305 (1991).Google Scholar
12. Sze, S.M.. Physics of Semiconductor Devices. Whiley, N.-Y., 1981.Google Scholar
13. Tuller, H., private communication.Google Scholar
14. Lan, J.-H., Kanicki, J., Catalano, A., Keane, J., Den Boer, W., and Gu, T., J. Electron. Mater. 25, p. 1,806 (1996).Google Scholar
15. Edelman, F., Brener, R., Cytermann, C., Weil, R., Beneking, C., and Beyer, W., MRS Spring Meeting, April, 1996, San Francisco, in publication.Google Scholar
16. Beyer, W., Herion, J., Wagner, H., and Zastrow, U., Phil. Mag. B63, p. 269 (1991).Google Scholar
17. Beyer, W., Physica B170, p. 105 (1991).Google Scholar
18. Edelman, F., Cytermann, C., Brener, R., Eizenberg, M., Khait, Yu.L., Weil, R., and Beyer, W., J. Appl. Phys. 75, p. 7,875 (1994).Google Scholar
19. Konno, T.J. and Sinclair, R., Phil. Mag. B71, p. 163, p. 179 (1995).Google Scholar
20. Berry, W.B., Emery, K.A., Swartzlander, A.B., and Nelson, A.J., in: 19th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conf. Sept., 1987, Nevada, ed. by Flood, D., IEEE, 1987, p. 262.Google Scholar