Design and Investigation of SST/nc-Si:H/M (M = Ag, Au, Ni) and M/nc-Si:H/M Multifunctional Devices

Abstract

Hydrogenated nanocrystalline Silicon thin films prepared by the very high frequency chemical vapor deposition technique (VHF-CVD) on stainless steel (SST) substrates are used to design Schottky point contact barriers for the purpose of solar energy conversion and passive electronic component applications. In this process, the contact performance between SST and M(M=Ag, Au, and Ni) and between Ag, Au, and Ni electrodes was characterized by means of current-voltage, capacitance-voltage, and light intensity dependence of short circuit (I-sc) current and open circuit voltage (V-oc) of the contacts. Particularly, the devices ideality factors, barrier heights were evaluated by the Schottky method and compared to the Cheung's. Best Schottky device performance with lowest ideality factor suitable for electronic applications was observed in the SST/nc-Si: H/Ag structure. This device reflects a V-oc of 229mV with an I-sc of 1.6mA/cm(2) under an illumination intensity of similar to 40 klux. On the other hand, the highest I-sc being 9.0 mA/cm(2) and the V-oc of 53.1mV were observed for Ni/nc-Si: H/Au structure. As these voltages represent the maximum biasing voltage for some of the designed devices, the SST/nc-Si:H/M and M/nc-Si:H/M can be regarded as multifunctional self-energy that provided electronic devices suitable for active or passive applications.