Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T18:58:37.334Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Enhancement of Photocarrier Lifetime Due to Charge Separation in a-Si:H/a-Ge:H Superlattices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

C. R. Wronski
Affiliation:
Exxon Research and Engineering, Route 22 East Annandale, NJ 08801
T. Tiedje
Affiliation:
Exxon Research and Engineering, Route 22 East Annandale, NJ 08801
B. Abeles
Affiliation:
Exxon Research and Engineering, Route 22 East Annandale, NJ 08801
Get access

Abstract

The lifetime of photogenerated electrons in a-Ge:H/a-Si:H multilayer structures with layers about 100Å thick, is enhanced by two orders of magnitude above the value in bulk a-Ge:H. This lifetime enhancement effect is explained by charge separation produced by layers, due to the assymmetry in the conduction and valence band offsets at the interfaces. The peak in the electron lifetime as a function of superlattice periodicity is determined by a trade-off between the electron tunneling rate into the a-Si:H barriers and electrostatic repulsion of holes due to photo-induced space charge.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Abeles, B. and Tiedje, T., Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 2003 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiedje, T. and Abeles, B., Appl. Phys. Lett. 45, 179 (1984).Google Scholar
2. Hi rose, M. and Miyazaki, S., J. Non-Cryst. Solids 66, 327 (1984).Google Scholar
3. Wronski, C. R., Persans, P. D. and Abeles, B., Appl. Phys. Lett. 49, 569 (1986).Google Scholar
4. Roxlo, C. B., Abeles, B. and Tiedje, T., Phys. Rev. Lett. 52, 1994 (1984).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Agarwal, S. C. and Guha, S., Phys. Rev. B, 31, 5547 (1985).Google Scholar
6. Hundhausen, M. and Ley, L., Phys. Rev. B 22, 6655 (1985).Google Scholar
7. Kakalios, J. and Fritzsche, H., J. Non-Cryst. Solids 77 & 78, 1101 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Evangelisti, F., Modesti, S., Boscherini, F., Fioniri, P., Quarisima, C., Capozi, M. and Perfetti, P., J. Non-Cryst. Solids 77/78, 969 (1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Persans, P. D., Abeles, B., Scanlon, J. and Stasiewski, H., Proc. 17th Int. Conf. on Physics of Semiconductors, eds. Chadi, J. D. and Harrison, W. A. (Springer Verlag, N.Y., 1985) p. 449.Google Scholar
10. Rose, A., Concept in Photoconductivity and Allied Problems, Krieger, New York (1978).Google Scholar
11. Wronski, C. R., Tiedje, T., Persans, P., Abeles, B. and Hicks, M., Appl. Phys. Lett. 49, 1378 (1986).Google Scholar