The Structural and Optical Properties of Hydrogenated and Nitrogenated a-Si0.1Ge0.9 and a-Si0.1Ge0.9:3% B Thin Films

Abstract

It is shown that pure and 3% boron doped a-Si0.1Ge0.9:H and a-Si0.1Ge0.9:N thin films
could be prepared by flash evaporation processes. The hydrogenation and nitrogenation
are very successful in situ after depositing the films. The FT-IR analysis gave all the
known absorbing bonds of hydrogen and nitrogen with Si and Ge.
Our data showed a considerable effect of annealing temperature on the structural and
optical properties of the prepared films. The optical energy gap (Eopt.) of a-Si0.1Ge0.9
samples showed to have significant increase with annealing temperature (Ta) also the
refractive index and the real part of dielectric constant increases with Ta, however the
extinction coefficient and imaginary part of dielectric constant decrease. The hydrogen
and nitrogen alloying caused an increase in the indirect band gap(Eopt.), refractive index
and extinction coefficient of a-Si0.1Ge0.9 and a-Si0.1Ge0.9:3% B. The boron doped films
caused a decrease in Eopt., refractive index and real part of dielectric constant while the
extinction coefficient and imaginary part of dielectric constant increased