New Numerical Method to Calculate the True Optical Absorption of Hydrogenated Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films

Fatiha Besahraoui, Larbi Chahed, Yahia Bouizem, Jamal Dine Sib

Laboratory of Physics of Thin Films and Materials for Electronics, University of Oran Es-Senia, Oran, Algeria.

DOI: 10.4236/wjnse.2012.21001                

Abstract

The enhanced optical absorption measured by Constant Photocurrent Method (CPM) of hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon thin films is due mainly to bulk and/or surface light scattering effects. A new numerical method is presented to calculate both true optical absorption and scattering coefficient from CPM absorption spectra of nanotextured nano-crystalline silicon films. Bulk and surface light scattering contributions can be unified through the correlation obtained between the scattering coefficient and surface roughness obtained using our method.

Keywords

Solution Hydrogenated Nanocrystalline Silicon; Constant Photocurrent Method; Optical Absorption; Bulk Light Scattering; Surface Roughness; Film Thickness

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	P. Roca i Cabarrocas, A. Fontcuberta i Morral and Y. Poissant, “Growth and Optoelectronic Properties of Polymorphous Silicon Thin Films,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 403-404, 2002, pp. 39-46. doi:10.1016/S0040-6090(01)01656-X
[2]	J. Meier, R. Flückiger, H. Keppner and A. Shah, “Complete Microcrystalline p-i-n Solar Cell: Crystalline or Amorphous Cellbehavior?” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 65, No. 7, 1994, pp. 860-862. doi:10.1063/1.112183
[3]	A. Poruba, A. Fejfar, Z. Remes, J. Springer, M. Vanecek, J. Kocka, J. Meier, P. Torres and A. Shah, “Optical Absorption and Light Scattering in Microcrystalline Silicon Thin Films and Solar Cells,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 88, No. 1, 2000, pp. 148-160. doi:10.1063/1.373635
[4]	M. Vanecek, A. Poruba, Z. Remes, N. Beck and M. Nesladek, “Nanotextured Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells: Optical Model,” Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Vol. 967, 1998, pp. 227-230.
[5]	A. Poruba, Z. Remes, J. Springer, M. Vanecek, A. Fejfar, J. Kocka, J. Meier, P. Torres and A. Shah, “Light Scattering in Microcrystalline Thin Film Cells,” Proceeding of the 2nd World Conference & Exhibition on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Vienna, July 1998, pp. 781-784.
[6]	M. Vanecek, J. Kocka, A. Poruba and A. Fejfar, “Direct Measurement of the Deep Defect Density in Thin Amorphous Silicon Films with the Absolute Constant Photocurrent Method,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 78, No. 10, 1995, pp. 6203-6210. doi:10.1063/1.360566
[7]	M. Vanecek, J. Houloubek and A. Shah, “Optical Study of Microvoids, Voids, and Local Inhomogeneities in Amorphous Silicon,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 59, No. 18, 1991, pp. 2237-2239. doi:10.1063/1.106081