Porous silicon layers were elaborated by electrochemical etching of heavily doped p-type silicon substrates. Metallization of porous silicon was carried out by immersion of substrates in diluted aqueous solution of nickel. Amorphous silicon thin films were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition on metalized porous layers. Deposited amorphous thin films were crystallized under va...

Aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films have potential applications in microelectronic and optoelectronic devices. In this study, AlN thin films with different thicknesses were deposited on silicon substrate by single ion beam sputtering method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra revealed that the structure of films with thickness of - nm was amorphous, while the polycrystalline hexagonal AlN with a...

The use of fossil fuels to generate electricity has already been identified as a major contributor to global warming and climate change. Many countries have already made plans to reduce their fossil fuel consumption and increased the contribution of renewable energies in total energy supply. One of the commonly used renewable energy sources is the sun and the use of photovoltaic cells to conver...

Post-crystallization heat-treatment of metal-induced laterally crystallized polycrystalline silicon thin film using YAG solid-state laser is characterized. It is found that both the material quality and the TFT performance are related to the laser-treatment condition. The amorphous silicon fraction remaining in the polycrystalline thin film can be reduced and the performance of the thin-film tr...

Introduction to Thin Film Transistors reviews the operation, application and technology of the main classes of thin film transistor (TFT) of current interest for large area electronics. The TFT materials covered include hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), poly-crystalline silicon (poly-Si), transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS), and organic semiconductors. The large scale manufa...

Anode materials of nanostructured silicon have been prepared by physical vapor deposition and characterized using electrochemical methods. The electrodes were prepared in thin-film form as nanocrystalline particles ~12 nm mean diameter! and as continuous amorphous thin films ~100 nm thick!. The nanocrystalline silicon exhibited specific capacities of around 1100 mAh/g with a 50% capacity retent...

The influence of the interface morphologies on amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells prepared on randomly textured substrates was studied. A simple three-dimensional geometrical model was developed to describe the surface morphology of amorphous silicon films and thin-film solar cells. The simulated surface morphologies are confirmed by experimental measurements. A detailed understanding of t...

Related Articles Near-field light concentration of ultra-small metallic nanoparticles for absorption enhancement in a-Si solar cells Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 093107 (2013) Influence of back contact roughness on light trapping and plasmonic losses of randomly textured amorphous silicon thin film solar cells Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 083501 (2013) Spatially resolved electrical parameters of silicon wa...

Using a masked hydrogen plasma treatment to spatially control the crystallization of amorphous silicon to polycrystalline silicon in desired areas, amorphous and polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (TFTs) with good performance have been integrated in a single film of silicon without laser processing. Both transistors are top gate and shared all process steps. The polycrystalline silic...