Kinetics, energetics, and origins of defects in amorphous Si:H

Abstract

A unified explanation is derived relating ‘‘stable’’ and metastable deep-level defects in amorphous Si:H, the existence of a universal saturated density of metastable defects, the temperature dependence of that saturation density, the increases with doping of both the density of ‘‘stable’’ defects and sensitivity to light, and the slow relaxation of dark properties. This follows from the defect energetics, and a completed analysis of the kinetics of formation and anneal of defects that is fully symmetric. It is concluded that the dominant defects are extrinsic in origin, probably involving a complex with a dopant atom.