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The fabrication and characterization of thin-film silicon bulk resonators processed on glass substrates is described. The microelectromechanical (MEMS) structures consist of surface micromachined disk resonators of phosphorous-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (n+-a-Si:H) deposited by radiofrequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (RF-PECVD). The devices are driven into resonance by electrostatic actuation and the vibrational displacement is detected optically. Resonance frequencies up to 30 MHz and quality factors in the 103-104 range in vacuum were measured. A high density of modes that increases with resonator diameter was observed. Membrane-like vibrational modes show good agreement with finite element simulations. The effect of geometrical dimensions of the disks on the resonance frequency was also studied. When operated in air higher harmonic modes show increasing quality factors.

An amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photoconductor array with two distinct integrated amorphous silicon carbon alloy (a-SiC:H) high pass filters is used to detect two of the cell intrinsic fluorophores. The cutoff wavelength of the filters is tuned by the carbon content in the film. The fluorophores of interest – reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) are indicative of the redox state of the cells. Concentrations down to 1 μM for NADH and 50 μM for FAD were detected.

A microfabricated amorphous silicon photodiode is used to detect chemiluminescent and colorimetric horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzymatic reactions. Detections limits of 1 nM and 1 pM of HRP are obtained for chemiluminescent and colorimetric measurements, respectively, with the reactions carried out in solution volume of 50 μL in polystyrene microwells. Surface-adsorbed HRP can be detected with a limit of 1 fmol.cm-2 by both detection methods. Immunoassays were performed using HRP-labeled antibodies and the detection of specific antibody-antigen molecular recognition is demonstrated both in the plastic well and inside a microfluidic channel. The application of the a-Si:H/HRP system is extended by coupling HRP with oxidase enzyme systems for glucose detection and a sensitivity of 0.1 mmol/L was achieved.

This paper presents the mechanical characterization of both elastic and fracture properties of thin silicon films from the load-deflection response of membranes, also known as the bulge test. Properties extracted include the plane-strain modulus, prestress, fracture strength and Weibull modulus. Diaphragms made of low-temperature, hydrogenated amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon films (a-Si:H and nc-Si:H, respectively) deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and, for comparison, membranes composed of high-temperature polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) have been fabricated and characterized. The structures are bulged until failure occurs. From the stress profiles in the diaphragms at fracture, the brittle material strength is analyzed using Weibull statistics. The bulge setup is fully automated for the sequential measurement of several membranes on a substrate realizing the high-throughput acquisition of data under well controlled conditions. A comprehensive study of the mechanical properties of low-temperature silicon films as a function of deposition parameters, namely substrate temperature, RF power, hydrogen dilution and doping, is presented.

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of electrolyte-gate (EG) hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film transistors (TFTs). In these devices, the metal gate is replaced by a Pt electrode immersed in an electrolyte. The source-drain current of these devices is modulated by the voltage applied through the Pt electrode. Device characteristics are compared with structurally equivalent top-gate a-Si:H TFTs. The EG devices show higher mobility and smaller subthreshold slope than their counterparts with metal gate and work in a narrower voltage range. EG-TFTs show chemical sensitivity, illustrated by a voltage shift in the transfer curve as a consequence of pH variation. The sensitivity of the devices to pH is different depending on whether the top layer in contact with the electrolyte is SiO2 or SiNx.

This work demonstrates the use of an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photodetector to measure the density of covalently-bound DNA molecules tagged with a fluorescent molecule. This device is based on the photoconductivity of a-Si:H in a coplanar electrode configuration. Excitation of a fluorescently-tagged biomolecule with near UV/blue light results in the emission of visible light. The emitted light is then converted into an electrical signal in the photodetector, thus allowing the detection of the presence of the tagged DNA molecules. The design, fabrication and characterization of this integrated a-Si:H-based bio-detector is described. The detection limit of the present device is of the order of 20 pmol/cm2. A surface density of ≤ 30 pmol/cm2 for DNA covalently-bound to an active silica layer was measured with the a-Si:H-based bio-detector.

The minority-carrier diffusion length in thin silicon films can be extracted from the electrically-detected transient grating method, EDTG, by a simple ambipolar analysis only in the case of lifetime dominated carrier transport. If the dielectric relaxation time, τdiel, is larger than the photocarrier response time, τR, then unexpected negative transient signals can appear in the EDTG result. Thin silicon films deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) near the amorphous-to-microcrystalline transition, where τR varies over a large range, appeared to be ideal candidates to study the interplay between carrier recombination and dielectric response. By modifying the ambipolar description to allow for a time-dependent carrier grating build-up and decay we can obtain a good agreement between analytical calculation and experimental results.

Electrostatic actuation of bridge and cantilever structures is studied. The structures are composed of bilayers of amorphous or microcrystalline silicon and aluminum fabricated using surface micromachining on glass substrates. The structures are actuated by applying the sum of a DC and a low-frequencyAC voltage. The resulting AC deflection is detected optically. The dependence of this deflection upon theapplied voltages and the bridge length is studied and compared with the predictions of an electromechanical model. The deflection amplitude can be electrostatically controlled and detected with a precision estimated to be better than a nanometer.

Air-gap micromachined structures such as bridges and cantilevers were fabricated on 50 and 125 µm-thick polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic substrates. The maximum processing temperature using PET is limited to 110 °C. Two surface micromachining processes on PET which used two different sacrificial layers - photoresist and Al - were developed. Several materials were used as structural layers in the microstructures including Al, TiW, amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and a bilayer of a-Si:H and Al. The maximum length of free-standing bridges and cantilevers is discussed as a function of the fabrication process. The bridge structures were actuated electrostatically, in a DC switch setup configuration, and the critical voltage as a function of the length was measured. Mechanical actuation and optical detection were used, in an AC mode, for the measurement of the resonance frequency of bridge structures.

We have shown recently that the temperature dependence of the phototransport properties can yield information regarding the state distribution in the forbidden gap of semiconductors. Of these properties the light intensity exponents of both, the majority carriers, γe, and the minority carriers, γh, were found to be very sensitive to the details of this distribution. In particular, noting that sub 1/2 values of the exponents are very unusual we have studied their origin in some a-Si:H materials. Finding experimentally such sub 1/2 values of γh and running computer simulations of the recombination processes in a-Si:H led us to the conclusion that these low values are due to acceptor-like centers which have a relatively high capture coefficient for the holes. We attribute these centers to the unintentional oxygen doping in a-Si:H. We will show that the oxygen presence, usually ignored in the discussions of the phototransport properties of a-Si:H, appears to be, in many cases, the dominant factor in the properties of “intrinsic” a-Si:H.

Bottom-gate thin film transistors (TFT) were fabricated with amorphous and microcrystalline silicon active layers deposited by hot-wire (HW) chemical vapor deposition using different levels of hydrogen dilution. As the hydrogen dilution was increased above 80%, the active layer made a transition from amorphous to microcrystalline. This transition resulted in an increase of the TFT off-current and in an increase of the TFT subthreshold slope. The TFT on- current and the TFT mobility remained at levels comparable to those of the a-Si:H HW TFTs. A comparison is made between TFTs with amorphous and microcrystalline silicon active layers prepared both by rf glow discharge and HW. HW TFTs with an active layer consisting of a thin layer deposited with high hydrogen dilution underlying a thicker amorphous silicon layer are also compared to TFTs with an active layer of the same total active layer thickness consisting only of the high hydrogen dilution film.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon alloys are prepared using electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Hydrogen is introduced into the source resonance cavity as an excitation gas. Silane is introduced in the main chamber in the vicinity of the plasma stream, whereas the carbon source gases, methane or ethylene, are introduced either with the silane or with the hydrogen as excitation gases. The effect of the type of carbon-source gas, excitation gas mixture and silane-to-carbon source gas flow ratio on the deposition rate, bandgap, subgap density of states, spin density and hydrogen evolution are studied.

The effect of hydrogen dilution and substrate temperature on the optoelectronic and structural properties of thin films deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition with filament temperatures between 1900 and 2500 °C from silane and hydrogen are studied. Amorphous silicon films are obtained at high deposition rates for hydrogen dilutions below 90%. The deposition rate scales approximately linearly with the filament temperature in this regime. Microcrystalline films are obtained for hydrogen dilution above 90%, independently of the filament temperature and substrate temperature, with much lower growth rates. The Raman spectrum of these films shows high crystalline fraction and small grain size. High conductivity films, typical of microcrystalline silicon, with high growth rates were achieved by either increasing the substrate temperature at low hydrogen dilution, or by using a hydrogen dilution just at the amorphous to microcrystalline transition point.

The dependence of the properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon alloys deposited with a 1:10 silane (SiH4) to methane (CH4) or ethylene (C2H4) gas flow ratios with the hydrogen dilution, deposition pressure and power is studied. In methane-based films the carbon content shows a decrease (from ≈0.75 to 0.55) with increasing hydrogen dilution from 0 to 98%, while the ethylene-based films show no dependence of the carbon fraction (≈0.9) on hydrogen dilution. The photoconductivity shows an increase for hydrogen dilutions above 90= for both methane and ethylene-based films. While this increase is attributed, in the case of methane, to the observed decrease in carbon content, no corresponding decrease in carbon content is observed in the ethylene-based films, suggesting a decrease in the density of recombination centers with hydrogen dilution. The Urbach tail and the room-temperature photoluminescence peak correlate with carbon content independent of the carbon source-gas and deposition conditions used.

It is a question as yet unresolved whether the density of light-induced defects in a-Si:H reaches a saturated value that cannot fundamentally be exceeded, or whether the defect density is in all conditions a steady-state value that reflects carrier concentration and temperature. In our experiments on a-Si:H we have observed defect saturation at low temperature and high light intensity; on the other hand, data exhibiting no saturation have also been published. To learn more about this question we have carried out saturation experiments on a-SiGe:H(F) alloys. These alloys have lower defect freeze-in temperatures than a-Si:H and, presumably, lower annealing energies. Therefore, saturation should be more difficult to achieve in the alloys than in a-Si:H.We have studied saturation for a-SiGe:H(F) samples to temperatures above the onset of thermal annealing and have observed that its behavior is similar to that seen in a-Si:H.

The drift mobility μd and the mobility-lifetime product μτ in undoped a-Si:H have been studied up to 130°C. The electron μde is temperature-activated with Eae = 0.13 to 0.16 eV. The electron (μτ)e increases with temperature T. For hole transport, we observe the transition from dispersive to non-dispersive transport with increasing T. The hole μdh is ∼ 1/100 of μde, and is activated with Eah = 0.34 to 0.48eV. The hole (μτ)h does not change much with T. A computer simulation demonstrates the high sensitivity of μd to the band tail width.

We study the dark conductivity σd, dark conductivity activation energy Ea and photoconductivity σph of a-Si:H,F/a-Si,Ge:H,F superlattices both perpendicular and parallel to the plane of the layers. In parallel transport, both the σph and σd are dominated by the alloy layer characteristics with the superposition of carrier confinement quantum effects. In perpendicular transport, the σd shows an interplay of quantum mechanical tunneling through the barriers and of classical thermal emission over the barrier layer and the σph is controlled by the decreasing absorption by the silicon barrier layer as the optical gap Eopt of the structure decreases.We also found that the multilayer structure allows to grow lower gap a-Si,Ge:H,F alloys than achievable under the same deposition conditions for bulk materials. This stabilizing effect allowed us to study low-gap superlattice structures and extract information about these very low gap (

We report measurements of Schottky barrier heights and minority carrier mobilitylifetime products of multilayer structures composed of a-Si:H,F and a-Si,Ge:H,F. These layers are grown by r.f. glow discharge decompostion of SiF4, GeF4, and H2 in the a-Si,Ge:H,F (well) layer and of SiF4 and H2 in the a-Si:H,F (barrier) layer.Schottky barrier height ΦB of Pt is measured using internal photoemission measurements. The minority carrier mobility-lifetime product (μτ)p is extracted from a fit of the voltage dependence of internal quantum efficiency to the Hecht expression. Both ΦB and (μτ)p are measured as a function of barrier and well thicknesses.

We have studied the temperature and intensity dependence (130K to 300K) of photo- and dark conductivity in a series of low-gap a-Si,Ge:H,F alloys (Eopt=1.25 to 1.33 eV) prepared under different deposition conditions. Electron time of flight experiments were conducted between 300K and 400K. Results reveal an increase in the slope of the exponential conduction band tail to ∼ 50 meV and a peak in electron trapping states at 0.3 to 0.4 eV below the conduction band edge, leading to a transition from extended to hopping conduction by electrons at slightly below room temperature. The alloys have midgap defect densities in the low 1017 cm−3eV−1 range.

We describe a detailed study of surface states on a-Si:H, F films deposited by DC-plasma from SiF4 and H2. In the a-Si:H, F growth from these source gases, the density of surface states (Nss) and the Urbach Energy (Eu) show a reciprocal relation, meaning that the film grown with less bond distortion is accompanied by a higher density of surface states. These surface states can be reduced by keeping the films at growth temperature after termination of growth; immediate cooling produces a high density. This suggests that bonds can rearrange on or near the film surface at growth temperature, after growth termination. Nss can be made as high as l×1014 cm−2. The surface states can be measured by optical subgap absorption, but do not give an ESR signal. A high density of these surface states lowers the Pd-Schottky barrier height. Time-of flight electron collection data show that the surface states act as deep electron traps, located at about 0.4eV below the conduction band edge. We present and discuss other experimental results to help understand these nature of the surface state on a-Si:H, F.

A systematic study of the electronic and optical properties of a-Si,Ge:H,F alloys in the initial and light-soaked states is presented. The three alloys have optical gaps of 1.20, 1.34 and 1.40eV. Constant photocurrent method (CPM) spectra show that the higher gap samples begin to exhibit increased subgap absorption due to light soaking much sooner than the low gap sample. Dark arid photoconductivity remain essentially constant as functions of light soaking time up to approximately 100 hours of illumination, when the dark conductivity begins to increase and the photoconductivity begins to decrease simultaneously. The electron mobility-lifetime product measured by the time-of-flight technique shows much scatter but no significant change with light-soaking. The hole mobility-lifetime product on the other hand decreases immediately upon light soaking and continues to decrease gradually with increasing illumination time. A discussion of these effects and a possible explanation in terms of the density of states is presented.

We present a study of the temperature and intensity dependence of the (μτ)p for Schottky barriers on an a-Si:H and a 1.3eV aSi,Ge:H,F alloy. Measured values for the activation energy of (μτ)p, , and the generation rate exponent of the (μτ)p, φ, show good agreement with calculated values. We also relate the (μτ)p with the mid-gap defect density, Na.

The properties of a-(Si, Ge):H, F alloys prepared by glow discharge deposition from SiH4 and GeF4 are described. The measured IR absorption spectra, sub-gap absorption spectra, dark conduction activation energies, carrier drift mobilities and deep trapping lifetimes of these alloys are similar to those of alloys prepared from SiF4, GeF4, and H2. However, they have over an order of magnitude lower photoconductivity over most of the composition range. Infrared absorption measurements indicate that these alloys have a fluorine content less than 1.5 at.% and a Si-H2 content that increases with germanium concentration.

We report measurements of internal photoemission from Ni, Au, and Pd contacts into a-Si, Ge:H, F alloys. The alloys were prepared by d.c. glow discharge decomposition of either SiF4 or SiH4 and GeF4, and H2. The sharp exponential drop in subgap absorption in these alloys, measured by the Constant Photocurrent Method (CPM), allows the determination of barrier heights using internal photoemission thresholds. The barrier heights of Ni, Au and Pd contacts are presented as a function of alloy composition. We find Ni has the lowest barrier heights while Au shows the highest barrier heights over the entire range of Eopt. We also find that for the Ni and Au contacts, ΦB varies as 1/2 the optical gap. In the case of Pd, ΦB shows a dependence of 1/3 the optical gap. We observed an increase in ΦB for Pd contacts when etched with a diluted HF solution prior to metallization. A similar increase in ΦD was not observed for the Au and Ni contacts.

The electron and hole transport perpendicular to the plane of the layers in a-Si:H, F/a-Si, Ge:H, F multilayers is analyzed. We measure the electron dark conductivity σd and its activation energy Ea, d, the photo conductivity σph and its exponent γ, the electron and hole mobility-deep trapping lifetime (μτd)e, h and the hole mobility-recombination lifetime (μτr)h. We identify three regions of barrier thickness ds with very different transport properties: (a) ds≲50Å, dominated by tunnelling between quantum confined states in the bottom of the wells; (b) 50Å ≲ds≲200Å, in which the well acts as the provider of an extra, controllable tail state density; and (c) ds≳200Å, where the individual layers are essentially decoupled.

We survey experimental evidence, obtained by optoelectronic measurements, and theoretical models for the density of gap states in a-Si,Ge:H(F) alloys. This survey shows that increasingly reproducible densities are obtained in the various segments of the energy gap. The results are becoming understood quantitatively. It is not yet clear if the reproducibility signals that the best material has been reached. The electron transport properties of low-gap (1.2 eV < Eopt < 1.4 eV) alloys are adequate for solar cells. Improvement of the hole transport properties, particularly (μr) which is set by the valence band tail width and the density of deep defects, is achieved through a reduction of the Urbach energy.

We have prepared device quality hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films by DC magnetron reactive sputtering in an Ar+H2 atmosphere. The hydrogen content (CH) of these films ranges from ∼10 to ∼28 at.% (determined from IR absorption) and is controlled mainly by the hydrogen partial pressure in the discharge. The electron and hole transport, and the density of defect states show that these films are suitable for solar cell applications. In this report we will emphasize the carrier transport properties of the films. The electron drift mobilities, determined by time-of-flight experiments, are between 0.5 and 2 cm2/V-sec. The minority carrier (hole) mobility-recombination lifetime product, (μτrec)p, has been determined on Schottky barrier structures from a fit of the voltage dependence of the photocurrent to the Hecht expression. This measurement gives results of (μτrec)p ∼ 0.9- 3×10−8 cm2/V. The density of deep-level defect states for these films (10≤CH≤28), measured with CPM, is between ∼1×1015 and ∼1×1016 cm−3. The AM-1 photoconductivity is in the range from 0.8−3.5×10−5 (Ω-cm)−1 and the dark conductivity decreases from ∼1×10−9 to ∼1×10−12 (Ω-cm)−l as the hydrogen content (CH) increases. These results show that device quality a-Si:H films can be grown by the DC magnetron reactive sputtering technique.

The effects of illumination on the optical and electronic properties of narrow gap hydrogenated and fluorinated amorphous Si-Ge (a-Si1-xGex:H, F) alloys have been evaluated. A series of alloys with optical gaps ranging from 1.30 eV to 1.64 eV has been light soaked at ∼1 sun intensity for 354 hours. Measurements of sub-gap absorption, photo- and dark conductivities and dark conductivity activation energy were made on alloys in the annealed and the light-soaked states. The results indicate that samples with optical gaps ≳ 1.4 eV degrade significantly. The 1.3 eV sample shows no degradation in its optical or electronic properties except for a factor of 5 increase in the dark conductivity.

We report a study of the transient photoconductivity of a-Si,Ge:H,F in reversebiased Schottky barrier detectors. The barriers were used to detect light pulses from commercial (AI,Ga)As laser diodes. The photodetectors work at a modulation frequency of up to 10MHz. Lowering the optical gap, Eopt, reduces the optical absorption length but raises the dark current and thus reduces the specific detectivity D*. The charge collection efficiency is determined by deep trapping of electrons in the conduction band tail. The frequency response is controlled by the electron drift mobility. The performance of the photodetector is discussed in terms of the optical and transport properties of the a- Si,Ge:H,F alloys.