The effect of annealing on SnO₂/a-SiC:H(p⁺-type)/a-Si:H/a-Si:H(n⁺-type)/Al structure

The effect of annealing on SnO2/a-SiC:H(p+-type)/a-Si:H/a-Si:H(n+-type)/Al structure has been investigated. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide and amorphous silicon thin films were prepared by the DC magnetron sputtering technique. p+-type amorphous silicon carbide (100 AA), intrinsic amorphous silicon (4100 AA) and n+-type amorphous silicon films (420 AA) were deposited on a glass substrate coated with a transparent SnO2 layer. The depositions of amorphous silicon carbide and amorphous silicon films were made in separate chambers. An aluminum metal contact was attached to the n+-type amorphous silicon film under a vacuum of 10-7 Torr. The dark and illuminated current-voltage characteristics were measured before and after annealing in the temperature range of 23-175 degrees C, under reverse biases of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 V. A significant increase of the efficiency was observed after annealing, at 2.0 V reverse bias.