Photoemission studies of a-SixC1−x:H/a-Si and a-SixC1−x:H/ hydrogenated amorphous silicon heterojunctions

Abstract
The interfaces between hydrogenated amorphous silicon‐carbon alloy and amorphous silicon, both hydrogenated and not, were investigated by photoemission spectroscopy. It is found that the valence‐band discontinuity is 0.15±0.1 eV for the amorphous Si case and zero within the experimental uncertainty for the hydrogenated amorphous Si. The relevance of this result for understanding the behavior of the pin amorphous solar cells is discussed.