Creation and Properties of Nitrogen Dangling Bond Defects in Silicon Nitride Thin Films

Warren, W. L.; Seager, C. H.; Robertson, John; Kanicki, Jerzy; Poindexter, Edward H.

doi:10.1149/1.1837272

Cited by 31 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…When UV irradiation from the full solar spectrum (or simulator) is introduced, carriers can be generated in the dielectric a ‐SiN x :H, essentially a wide band gap semiconductor with varying range of optical band gap as low as 2.43 eV (510 nm), 31 but observable experimentally in the literature in solar cells below 3.1 eV (400 nm) 5 . These photogenerated electrons can be trapped by K + centers existing in the band gap, neutralizing them 32 . The photo‐excitation process would result in mobile holes in the valence band of the nitride, which can drift toward the module face because of the electric field associated with the remaining K + centers that are concentrated toward the silicon cell.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 These photogenerated electrons can be trapped by K + centers existing in the band gap, neutralizing them. 32 The photo-excitation process would result in mobile holes in the valence band of the nitride, which can drift toward the module face because of the electric field associated with the remaining K + centers that are concentrated toward the silicon cell. A band diagram illustrating the process is shown in Figure S2.…”

Section: Pid With Simultaneous Irradiancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of illumination and encapsulant resistivity on polarization‐type potential‐induced degradation on n‐PERT cells

Habersberger¹,

Hacke

2021

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Power loss caused by polarization-type potential-induced degradation (PID-p) in a variety of high-performance photovoltaic cell types has been observed to be recoverable via subsequent illumination and in some cases preventable via simultaneous illumination. In this report, we describe the results of a study in which the front faces of n-PERT cells encapsulated in polymers with a broad range of electrical resistivity were exposed to varying and controlled irradiance during PID testing. For a low resistivity ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer encapsulant, no reduction in the rate or extent of power loss was observed for irradiance as high as 1,000 W/m 2 , whereas for high and intermediate resistivity polyolefin encapsulants, 100 and 300 W/m 2 , respectively, prevented power loss. We introduce a simple model based on charge accumulation that facilitates interpretation of these results whereby degradation via charge accumulation under voltage stress and recovery due to light exposure are opposing and interdependent phenomena that describe the susceptibility of a module to power loss.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pid With Simultaneous Irradiancementioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of illumination and encapsulant resistivity on polarization‐type potential‐induced degradation on n‐PERT cells

Habersberger¹,

Hacke

2021

Progress in Photovoltaics

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“…Amorphous Silicon Nitride (a-Si 3 N 4 , or a-SiNx if the alloy is non-stoichiometric) is a very promising materials for application in the field of memory devices 1 and optoelectronics [2][3][4][5][6] . As for optoelectronics, in Si rich a-SiN x samples Si clusters (Si-c) present in the matrix 7 are thought to be responsible for the luminescence of this material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2,3 However, a-SiN x films are known to be luminescent matrices on their own due to the light emission related to the presence of specific defects. [4][5][6] Si and N related defects act also as charge traps and their high concentration in a-SiN x makes this material suitable for building non-volatile memory devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomistic structure of amorphous silicon nitride from classical molecular dynamics simulations

Ippolito

Meloni

2011

Phys. Rev. B

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By means of molecular dynamics simulations based on the Billeter et al. [S. R. Billeter, A. Curioni, D. Fischer, and W. Andreoni, Phys. Rev. B 73, 155329] environment-dependent classical force field we studied the structural features of SiNx samples at various stoichiometries. Our results are in good agreement with experimental data and are able to reproduce some features which so far were not reproduced by simulations. In particular, we identified units containing N-N bonds, which are thought to be responsible for an unassigned peak in the radial distribution function obtained from neutron diffraction data and signals observed in electron spin resonance, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, electron-energy-loss spectroscopy and optical absorption experiments.We have identified defects which are thought to be the responsible for the high concentration of charge traps that makes this material suitable for building non-volatile memory devices. We analyzed the dependency of the concentration of these defects with the stoichiometry of the sample. arXiv:1102.0145v1 [cond-mat.dis-nn]

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“…Dangling bonds can be also induced by light as in case of amorphous silica [74][75][76][77][78][79][80]. Moreover, physical etching of other solid compounds rather than covalent compounds may create dangling bonds on their surfaces.…”

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confidence: 99%

Theory for Morphology Engineering of Solid Compounds (ATMESC): Facts, Predictions and Experimental Evidences

Ah¹

2017

J Material Sci Eng

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A theory for morphology engineering of solid compounds (ATMESC) that may cause a breakthrough in materials science and engineering is introduced. The ability of zinc oxide (ZnO), and expected similar behaviour of cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) and other binary compounds that exhibit (d 10 ) orbitals to experience morphology transition when react with phosphomolybdic acid (PMA), has initiated the idea of the ability of other solid chemical compounds to acquire polar surfaces to experience morphology transition under certain conditions. Facts, predictions and some experimental evidences are discussed which support the theory.Abdelmohsen theory for morphology transition engineering (ATMTE) has paved the way towards a general theory that may govern the morphology transition of nearly all solid compounds under specific conditions [1]. The morphology transition of zinc oxide was explained physically by attributing the inducing of polarity to the repulsion force between electron clouds of surface ions and polyoxometalates anions (POMs anions) which induces relaxation of outer surface atoms [1,2]. The contribution of chemical etching was considered and supported by the ability of molybdates to form intermediate compounds like Zn-molybdates (ZM) or/and Zn phosphomolybdate (ZMP) (pigments) when react with zinc cations. Intermediate compound mechanism (ICM) was supposed which may involve dissolution and re-crystallization of zinc oxide to facilitate solid-state fusion [1][2][3].From a point of view of a chemist, the concept of materials engineering [4] was expanded to include "controlling and designing the oriented structures of materials by rescaling their dimensions [5][6][7] or varying their external morphologies [8][9][10], favorably with functionalization [11][12][13], decoration [14][15][16][17], doping [18][19][20][21] or mixing [22,23] with other materials to attend the synergistic effect [24][25][26] which enhance their properties". There are two main methods used for nanofabrication; Top-down and bottom-up approaches. The bottom-up approach is recommended than the top-down approach, because the former can produce structures with homogenous chemical composition, and better short-and long-range ordering [1]. Figure 1 shows schematically the engineering of nanomaterials by different approaches.The morphology evolution of zinc oxide (ZnO) from nanorods to hybrid nanoplatelets has initiated the idea of postulating a theory (ATMTE) that was expected to govern binary compounds especially those have similar physico-chemical properties to that of zinc oxide [1]. ATMTE states that "Binary compounds especially amphoteric/ diamagnetic pure and doped metal-oxides like (ZnO, Cu 2 O) that have appropriate energy difference between their LUMO (acid site/ cation) and HOMO (base site/anion), may experience morphology transition to various dimensions (1D, 2D and 3D) when reacts with polyoxometalates under specific conditions, with a possibility to manipulate their surface catalytic properties" [1]. ATMTE has expected similar behviour for...

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Creation and Properties of Nitrogen Dangling Bond Defects in Silicon Nitride Thin Films

Cited by 31 publications

References 11 publications

Impact of illumination and encapsulant resistivity on polarization‐type potential‐induced degradation on n‐PERT cells

Impact of illumination and encapsulant resistivity on polarization‐type potential‐induced degradation on n‐PERT cells

Atomistic structure of amorphous silicon nitride from classical molecular dynamics simulations

Theory for Morphology Engineering of Solid Compounds (ATMESC): Facts, Predictions and Experimental Evidences

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