Amorphous and nc-Si:H Intrinsic Thin Films for Solar Cells Applications

Abstract

This contribution discusses the deposition process and properties of intrinsic silicon thin films processed by the hot wire chemical vapour deposition technique. We review some fundamental characterization techniques that are used to probe into the quality of the material and thus decide its susceptibility to be used as the intrinsic layer in solar cells industry. This paper covers the optical, structural and electrical properties of the material. Results from UV-visible and IR spectroscopy, XRD and Raman scattering, X-section TEM as well as dark and photo-currents are given. It is shown that the thermal activation energy is a good measure of the quality of the sample.