Influence of hydrogen-bonding configurations on the physical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We analyzed the physical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) samples grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, by means of infrared spectroscopy, mass-density, and optical measurements. We applied the usual infrared spectroscopic techniques to evaluate the amount of incorporated hydrogen and to investigate the influence of the Si-H bonding configurations on the optical and electronic properties of a-Si:H obtained by this widely used deposition process, and with parameters so chosen as to obtain films having state of the art characteristics. We carried out an exhaustive study of the different infrared absorption peaks, generally ascribed to different bonding configurations of H in Si, with a view to distinguishing the different contributions of SiH, SiH2 (SiH2)n to the spectral response of the material and to relating them to deposition temperature. The correlation of this infrared spectral analysis with mass-density measurements has evidenced that, for hydrogen content below 10 at. %, isolated SiH and SiH2 bonds occur, whereas, with higher hydrogen concentrations, the formation of (SiH2)n chains gives rise to empty cavities where hydrogen is preferentially incorporated. In addition, optical measurements show that samples deposited at temperatures below 170 °C exhibit energy gaps and defect densities, which are quite different to those expected if only the effects of SiH groups are considered.