Photoinduced Optical Changes in Amorphous Silicon-Carbon Alloy Prepared by Reactive Sputtering in an Atmosphere of Propane

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Abstract
Photoinduced absorption edge shifts towards lower and higher energies, i.e. photodarkening and photobleaching, have been observed for the first time in a-Si x C1-x : H films prepared by the reactive sputtering of Si in a gaseous mixture of C3H8–Ar. Photodarkening is induced by band gap illumination in vacuum and photobleaching by illumination in air. The dependence of the effects on composition suggests that carbon atoms are responsible. The effects are probably related to photostructural changes in the films, being accompanied by changes in film thickness. The photobleaching is related to the formation of C=O bonds which appear in the infrared absorption.