[The Influence of Oxygen Incorporation on the Microstructure and Band Gap Properties of the nc-Si Films].

The authors prepared nc-SiOx: H thin films using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition methods (PECVD) and investigated the influence of oxygen incorporation on the microstructure and band gap properties of the films. The results indicated that with the increase in oxygen mixing ratio (CO2/SiH4), the grain size of the nanocrystal-silicon grain as well as the crystallinity of the film reduced, and the surface tensile stress of the nanocrystal-silicon grain first increased and then decreased. Fourier infrared absorption spectra analysis indicated that, with the increase in oxygen mixing ratio, the intensity of the oxygen rich Si--O bond increased while that of the silicon rich Si--O bond decreased and the structure factor reduced in the meantime accompanied by the improved order degree of thin films. The structure factor increased when the oxygen mixing ratio exceeded 0.08, which shows that the order degree of thin films dropped. In addition, the optical gap increased and the band tail width first increased and then decreased as a result of the incorporation of the oxygen. As a result, the microstructure and band gap properties of the films can be controlled by incorporating oxygen. And the crystallinity and optical gap of the material was high, and the microstructure of the films was improved at the same time when the oxygen mixing ratio was 0. 08, so it can be used as intrinsic layer of the thin-film solar cells.