Subband energy in two-band δ-doped semiconductors

We study electron dynamics in a two-band δ-doped semiconductor within the envelope-function approximation. Using a simple parametrization of the confining potential arising from the ionized donors in the δ -doping layer, we are able to find exact solutions of the Dirac-type equation describing the coupling of host bands. As an application we then consider Si δ -doped GaAs. In particular we find that the ground subband energy scales as a power law of the Si concentration per unit area in a wide range of doping levels. In addition, the coupling of host bands leads to a depression of the subband energy due to nonparabolicity effects.

Deposition of Intrinsic a-Si:H by ECR-CVD to Passivate the Crystalline Silicon Heterointerface in HIT Solar Cells

We have deposited intrinsic amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) using the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) chemical vapor deposition technique in order to analyze the a-Si:H/c-Si heterointerface and assess the possible application in heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer (HIT) solar cells. Physical characterization of the deposited films shows that the hydrogen content is in the 15-30% range, depending on deposition temperature. The optical bandgap value is always comprised within the range 1.9- 2.2 eV. Minority carrier lifetime measurements performed on the heterostructures reach high values up to 1.3 ms, indicating a well-passivated a-Si:H/c-Si heterointerface for deposition temperatures as low as 100°C. In addition, we prove that the metal-oxide- semiconductor conductance method to obtain interface trap distribution can be applied to the a-Si:H/c-Si heterointerface, since the intrinsic a-Si:H layer behaves as an insulator at low or negative bias. Values for the minimum of D_it as low as 8 × 10^10 cm^2 · eV^-1 were obtained for our samples, pointing to good surface passivation properties of ECR-deposited a-Si:H for HIT solar cell applications.