Nitrogen Diffusion in Amorphous Silicon Nitride Isotope Multilayers Probed by Neutron Reflectometry

Nitrogen diffusion in amorphous silicon nitride isotope multilayers probed by neutron reflectometry.

Amorphous silicon nitride is a model system for a covalently bound amorphous solid with a low atomic mobility where reasonable values of self-diffusivities are still lacking. We used neutron reflectometry on isotope enriched Si3 14N4/Si3 15N4 multilayers to determine nitrogen self-diffusivities ranging from 10(-24) to 10(-21) m2/s between 950 and 1250 degrees C. Time dependent diffusivities obs...

Neutron reflectometry studies on the lithiation of amorphous silicon electrodes in lithium-ion batteries.

Neutron reflectometry is used to study in situ the intercalation of lithium into amorphous silicon electrodes. The experiments are done using a closed three-electrode electrochemical cell setup. As a working electrode, an about 40 nm thick amorphous silicon layer is used that is deposited on a 1 cm thick quartz substrate coated with palladium as a current collector. The counter electrode and th...

Amorphous Silicon Based Neutron Detector

Silane Safety in Amorphous Silicon and Silicon Nitride Operations

The PV industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Europe, the United States, and Japan. As PV manufacturing is scaled-up to meet a growing demand, preserving the safe, environmentally friendly nature of the industry becomes even more important. Silane is one of the inherently dangerous materials used in the deposition of silicon nitride (SiN3) and amorphous silicon (a-Si). In this pap...

Self-Diffusion in Amorphous Silicon.

The present Letter reports on self-diffusion in amorphous silicon. Experiments were done on ^{29}Si/^{nat}Si heterostructures using neutron reflectometry and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The diffusivities follow the Arrhenius law in the temperature range between 550 and 700 °C with an activation energy of (4.4±0.3)  eV. In comparison with single crystalline silicon the diffusivities are tre...