Structural, optical, and electrical properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium alloys

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium alloys (a-SiGe:H) have been prepared by rf glow discharge of silane, germane, and hydrogen gas mixture at substrate temperature of 200 and 250 degrees C. The structural properties of the films have been investigated by infrared, Raman, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. It is found that there is a preferential incorporation of germanium into the film relative to silicon and the films with high germane gas phase composition X-g > 0.4 tend to oxidize in atmosphere. Besides, polysilane is enhanced in the films with low germane gas phase composition. The electrical properties including dark, photo conductivities, and conduction activation energy are measured. As for the optical properties, optical transmission is adopted to determine the optical gap while photoluminescence spectra together with temperature variation are used to study the band tail states of the films. By applying Brodsky's quantum well model, the various optical and electrical properties could be explained successfully. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.