Charge photo-carrier transport from silicon nanocrystals embedded in SiO_2-based multilayer structures

Experimental investigation of photoconductivity in Si-rich silicon oxide (SRSO)/SiO_2 multilayer (ML) structures prepared by magnetron reactive sputtering is reported. Photocurrent (PC) measurements show that the PC threshold increases with decreasing the thickness of SRSO layer. Photo-conduction pr...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Rezgui, B. Drid, Gourbilleau, F., Maestre Varea, David, Palais, O., Sibai, A., Lemiti, M., Bremond, G.
Tipo de documento: artigo
Data de publicação:2012
País:España
Recursos:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositório:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/42745
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/42745
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:538.9
Pulsed-laser deposition
Solar-cell applications
Si nanocrystals
Quantum dots
Photoluminescence
Nanostructures
Temperature
Gap
Física de materiales
Física del estado sólido
2211 Física del Estado Sólido
Descrição
Resumo:Experimental investigation of photoconductivity in Si-rich silicon oxide (SRSO)/SiO_2 multilayer (ML) structures prepared by magnetron reactive sputtering is reported. Photocurrent (PC) measurements show that the PC threshold increases with decreasing the thickness of SRSO layer. Photo-conduction processes in our samples are shown to be dominated by carrier transport through quantum-confined silicon nanocrystals embedded in the SiO_2 host. In addition, the observed bias-dependence of photocurrent intensity is consistent with a model in which carrier transport occurs by both tunneling and hopping through defect states in the silicon oxide matrix. A photocurrent density J_(ph) of 1-2mA cm^(-2) is extracted from our results. Although this photocurrent density along the ML absorber film is relatively low, the results presented in this work are believed to be a valuable contribution toward the implementation of all-Si tandem solar cells.