Formation of thin-film crystalline silicon on glass observed by in-situ XRD

Thin-film poly-crystalline silicon (poly c-Si) on glass obtained by crystallization of an amorphous silicon (a-Si) film is a promising material for low cost, high efficiency solar cells. Our approach to obtain this material is to crystallize a-Si films on glass by solid phase crystallization (SPC). As the grain size of SPC poly c-Si films will...

A scattering model for surface-textured thin films

We present a mathematical model that relates the surface morphology of randomly surface-textured thin films with the intensity distribution of scattered light. The model is based on the first order Born approximation [see e.g., M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, 7th ed. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1999) ] and on...

First-principles study of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We use a molecular-dynamics simulation within density-functional theory to prepare realistic structures of hydrogenated amorphous silicon. The procedure consists of heating a crystalline structure of Si64H8 to 2370 K, creating a liquid and subsequently cooling it down to room temperature. The effect of the cooling rate is examined. We prepared a...

Modulated photonic-crystal structures as broadband back reflectors in thin-film solar cells

A concept of a modulated one-dimensional photonic-crystal (PC) structure is introduced as a back reflector for thin-film solar cells. The structure comprises two PC parts, each consisting of layers of different thicknesses. Using layers of amorphous silicon and amorphous silicon nitride a reflectance close to 100% is achieved over a broad...

Determination of the mobility gap of intrinsic ?c-Si:H in p-i-n solar cells

Microcrystalline silicon (?c-Si:H) is a promising material for application in multijunction thin-film solar cells. A detailed analysis of the optoelectronic properties is impeded by its complex microstructural properties. In this work we will focus on determining the mobility gap of ?c-Si:H material. Commonly a value of 1.1?eV is found, similar...

Distributed fiber?optic temperature sensing for hydrologic systems

Instruments for distributed fiber-optic measurement of temperature are now available with temperature resolution of 0.01°C and spatial resolution of 1 m with temporal resolution of fractions of a minute along standard fiber-optic cables used for communication with lengths of up to 30,000 m. We discuss the spectrum of fiber-optic tools that may...

Charge deep-level transient spectroscopy study of high-energy-electron-beam-irradiated hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We present a study of changes in the defect density of states in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) due to high-energy electron irradiation using charged deep-level transient spectroscopy. It was found that defect states near the conduction band were removed, while in other band gap regions the defect-state density increased. A similar...

Origin of charged gap states in a-Si:H and their evolution during light soaking