The Influence of the Si-H₂ Bond on the Light-Induced Effect in a-Si Films and a-Si Solar Cells

Abstract

The influence of the Si-H 2 bond on light-induced degradation and the thermal recovery of a-Si films and a-Si solar cells were studied. The influence of the Si-H 2 bond on light-induced degradation depends on the impurity content in a-Si films, and light-induced degradation can be reduced by decreasing the Si-H 2 bond density in a-Si films with impurity content of 10 18 cm -3 . The activation energy of the thermal recovery process was about 1.0 eV, and it did not depend on the Si-H 2 bond density. However, an irreversible phenomenon was observed in film properties and solar cell characteristics with high Si-H 2 bond density. It is thought that the structural flexibility of the Si-H 2 bond is related to this irreversible phenomenon.