Correlation between physical properties and hydrogen concentration in magnetron-sputtered amorphous silicon

A study of the physical properties of α-Si:H films deposited by magnetron sputtering at two different substrate temperatures and different hydrogen content is presented. Quantitative depth profiles for hydrogen contents were determined by the use of the resonant nuclear reaction ${}_{}{}^1{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{H}$ ${(}^{15}$N,αγ${)\mathrm{}}^{12}$C. The hydrogen concentration obtained by nuclear reaction is compared with the integrated intensities of the bond wagging, stretching, and bending bands. Information on the composition of the films (homogeneity of Si, concentrations of Ar and other impurities) was obtained by Rutherford backscattering analysis. The index of refraction, the extinction coefficient, and the band gap are extracted. Dark conductivities were also measured and are reported together with the obtained values of the activation energy. Information about the single oscillator energy, the dispersion energy, and the characteristic volume band energy is given.