Reduced photoinduced degradation in chemical vapor deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon films

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Abstract
Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si:H) films prepared by the thermal decomposition of disilane in a He atmosphere [chemical vapor deposition (CVD)] contain 3–4% hydrogen, considerably less than the hydrogen content in a‐Si:H films prepared by glow discharge (GD). The CVD a‐Si:H films have been irradiated for up to 175 h at 500 and 600 mW/cm2 using a quartz‐halogen lamp. The defect density in CVD a‐Si:H films is estimated to approach saturation at mid 1016 cm−3 from an initial defect density of less than 6×1015 cm−3, whereas the typical defect density at saturation is greater than 1018 cm−3 for GD a‐Si:H films. The significantly reduced Staebler–Wronski effect in CVD a‐Si:H films is attributed to the lower concentration of clustered hydrogen atoms or silicon–hydrogen bonds.