The objectives of this project are twofold: (1) to investigate new amorphous semiconductor (a-SC) materials, in which recombination centers are passivated, using plasma deposition techniques; and (2) to characterize the optoelectronic properties pertaining to both majority-carrier and minority-carrier transport in as-deposited films and in devices. The electronic properties of plasma-deposited a-Si:H alloys were studied as functions of oxygen and nitrogen impurities. Over a wide range of processing conditions, features displayed by the data include: (1) anomalous behavior in photoconductivity versus temperature for films deficient in either, or both, impurities (peaks appear that are associated with thermal-quenching processes and supralinearity); and (2) modification to classic behavior in photoconductivity owing to synergistic effects of oxygen and nitrogen. Correlations with photoluminescence were observed. Within the context of an emerging spectroscopy, optical emission spectroscopy was found to be a useful technique for the detection of emitting reactive species in the plasma. The presence of impurities, such as N/sub 2/ and chlorosilanes, was diagnosed
