Kinetics of defect creation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon by light pulses

Abstract
The creation of metastable defects in hydrogenated amorphous silicon subjected to laser pulses with laser pulse energy density in the range U = (2.5–33) 10−3 J cm−2 has been investigated. After a rise time nearly independent of U, saturation of the defect density N sat is observed, and N sat varies linearly with U in the range of energies considered. A model including the light-induced annealing of defects fits the present experimental data.