Recent results on ion-beam hydrogenation of amorphous silicon

The ion-beam hydrogenation of undoped amorphous silicon for solar cells obtained by dehydrogenation of glow-discharge-deposited a-Si:H, by glow-discharge deposition at 480 degrees C, and by RF magnetron-sputter deposition was investigated. A Kaufman ion source was used to introduce hydrogen atoms into the a-Si:H. Highly photosensitive a-Si:H films with up to 20 at.% hydrogen bonded predominantly as monohydrides were obtained. The authors report results of Raman Scattering measurements of magnetron-sputtering-deposited amorphous silicon before and after hydrogenation, comparisons of ion-beam and RF posthydrogenation techniques, and a possible application of the ion-beam hydrogenation technique.