Influence of Thermal Conductive Material on the Activation Energy of Amorphous Silicon Thin Films

Authors: Sevilay UĞUR, Merih SERİN

Abstract: The activation energy of amorphous silicon thin films are usually measured by placing the thin film sample on a heating surface and monitoring the change in the dark conductivity as a function of temperature. The most widely used devices for temperature measurements are surface thermometers and thermocouples. Sensors such as surface thermometers or thermocouples simply measure temperature by reaching an equilibrium state with the measured environment. If the heat conduction to the sensor somehow is obscured by several reasons (sensors having a much larger dimensions than the thin film or not having proper vacuum) different thermal conduction to the sensor than that to the sample, resulting an improper reading of the actual sample temperature, results. By placing a thermally conductive material between sample, sensor and heating surface the heat exchange could be improved resulting in better thermal equilibrium between these surfaces. This present study will report dark conductivity of carbonated hydrogenated amorphous silicon samples (a-Si$_{1-x}$:C$_x$:H) obtained with various Silane (SiH$_4$), Methane (CH$_4$) ratios, and p-type a-Si$_{1-x}$:C$_x$:H obtained with various Silane (SiH$_4$), Methane (CH$_4$) and Diborane (B$_2$H$_6$) ratios. The measurements, which were performed before and after using thermally conductive material, will be compared and the influence of this conductive material to the activation energy will be discussed.

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