The electronic activity of boron and phosphorus impurities in a-Si and a-Si:H

Abstract

In amorphous materials, acceptor and donor impurities rarely dope the system (shift the Fermi level). We find out why in a-Si:H. We report simulations on B and P doping of a-Si:H and a-Si. We analyze the Electronic Density of States (EDOS) with concentrations ranging from 1.6% to 12.5% of B or P in a-Si. The results indicate that tetrahedral B and P are effective doping configurations in a-Si, but high impurity concentrations introduce defect states. Clustered B or P also introduced mid-gap states. For a-Si:H, we report that both B(3,1) and P(3,1) (B or P atom bonded with three Si atoms and one H atom) are effective doping configurations. We investigate H passivation in both cases. There exists a "hydrogen poison range" for which H can modify the dopant configuration and suppress doping. For B doping, nearby H prefers to stay at the bond-center of Si-Si, leaves B four-fold and neutralizes the doping configuration; for P doping, nearby H spoils the doping by making tetrahedral P three-fold.