Abstract
Phosphorus doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films were prepared by decomposition of silane using RF plasma glow discharge. Both DC dark conductivity measurements, and spectrophotometric optical measurements through the range 200-3000 nm were recorded for the prepared films. The DC conductivity activation energy E-a decreased from 0.8 eV for the undoped sample to 0.34 eV for the highest used doping value. The optical energy gap E-g decreased ranging from 1.66 eV to 1.60 eV. The refractive index n, the density of charge carriers N/m* and the plasma frequency omega(p) showed an opposite behavior, i.e. an increase in value with doping. Fitting the dispersion values to Sellmeier equation led to the determination of the material natural frequency of oscillating particles. A correlation between the changes in these parameters with the doping has been attempted. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.