Impact of a Si H structural properties on the annealing behavior of a Si H c Si heterostructures used as precursors for high efficiency solar cells

We analyze the dependence of the interface defect density Dit in amorphous crystalline a Si H c Si heterostructures on the microscopic properties of the ultrathin 10nm undoped a Si H films. It is shown that the hydrogen bonding configuration, probed by infrared spectroscopy, determines the a Si H network disorder, which in turn governs the annealing behavior of these structures upon a short thermal treatment at moderate temperatures T 200 C . While the as deposited Dit seems to be determined by the local structure at the interface, the final state of the annealed samples is determined by the bulk a Si H network strain as reflected in the valence band tail slope. Thus it appears valid to treat the equilibrated a Si H c Si interface as a 2D layer that has the projected defect properties of the 3D a Si H bul