Amorphous silicon nitrogen alloys deposited by PECVD under hydrogen dilution conditions

Amorphous silicon-nitrogen (a-Si1-xNx:H) alloys with x in the range 0.01-0.57 have been deposited in a dedicated chamber by ultra high vacuum PECVD in SiH4+NH3 and SiH4+NH3+H-2 gas mixtures. A picture of optical, compositional and structural properties was deduced for the entire compositional range by optical spectroscopy, Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry, elastic recoil detection analysis and infrared spectroscopy. Defect and photoelectrical properties have been investigated for the films having optical gap in the range 1.9-2.7 eV.