Improvement of the optical and photoelectric properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon alloys by using trisilylmethane as a feedstock

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon alloys (a-SiC:H) with band gaps around 1.9 eV have been prepared using trisilylmethane (TSM) as the carbon source by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Compared to a-SiC:H alloys prepared from the conventional CH4/SiH4 mixture, the TSM-based films show sharper optical-absorption edge, weaker defect-related optical absorption, lower methyl group concentration, longer ambipolar diffusion length, and higher photoconductivity.