IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

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Volume 4, Issue 7, July 2016

The Photoconductivity and Photosensitivity of

Pure and Doped Amorphous GexSi1-x: H Thin Films
M.F.A. Alias1 , A.A. J. Al- Douri 2
1

Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Baghdad P.O. Box 47162, Jadiriyah, Baghdad, Iraq

Department of Applied Physics and Astronomy, College of Sciences, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, UAE

ABSTRACT
The influence of light intensity on the photoconductivity and photosensitivity of the hydrogenated amorphous pure and doped
GexSi1-x thin films (a-GexSi1-x: H) deposited under various deposition conditions such as Ge content (x= 01) and atomic
percentage of Al and As dopants (0.5%3.5%) had been investigated. Hydrogenated amorphous GexSi1-x thin films (a-GexSi1-x:
H) were deposited from prepared a polycrystalline GexSi1-x alloys with various x (0-1) on glass substrates by a thermal
evaporation method. All prepared types films were sensitive to light, whereas p-type film was more sensitive than the n-type and
pure films. The increase in Ge content caused decreased in photoconductuvity and photosensitivity of prepared GexSi1-x films.

Keywords: pure and doped a-GeSi:H thin film, thermal evaporation, photoconductivity and photosensitivity.

1. Introduction
One promising way to expand silicon applications is to alloy it with another element such as Ge, C and Sn. Varying the
composition of Ge to Si can increase the electrons mobility through the semiconductor and engineering its band gap for
optoelectronics devices fabrication. Accordingly Si-Ge alloys have given a new impetus applications and utilization for
silicon industrial technologies [1][8].Many preparation methods are used to produce a-GexSi1x films and several
efforts were done in the last two decades to improve the Si-Ge alloys , accordingly it becomes better candidate for new
devices fabrication [3],[9],[10]. The thermal evaporation method is not extensively used in this field[11].In this work
Thermal evaporation method was employed because, simplicity and possibility of achieve the optimum depositions
conditions to produce a-GexSi1x as a competitive material which can be used in the development of optoelectronic
devices such as photovoltaic solar cells and detectors.
A study of photoconductivity in solids can give useful information on the localized state distribution and recombination
process [12]. In the absence of illumination, the dark conductivity of a semiconductor is given by:
0= q (n0n+ p0p)

(1)

where, n0 and p0 denote the densities of electrons and holes in thermal equilibrium, while n and p are respected the
electron and hole motilities of semiconductor, respectively.
When photons with energies equal to or greater than the band gap energy of a semiconductor are absorbed in a
semiconductor, an intrinsic photoconductivity results. The absorbed photons create excess electronhole pairs (i.e., n
and p) , and as a result the densities of electrons and holes (i.e., n and p) increase above their equilibrium values of n0
and p0 (i.e., n= n 0+n, p= p0+p). Accordingly the photoconductivity is defind as the net change in electrical
conductivity under illumination and can be expressed by
= - o=q (nn+ (pp)

(2)

where, n and p are the excess electron and hole densities respectively[13].
The phenomena of the photoconductivity as explained by Rose [12] comprises of three generic processes steps, these
are: a-generation by external excitation of mobile carriers, b-transport of those mobile carriers, c-recombination.
The investigation involved detailed measurements of the photoconductivity for pure and doped hydrogenated
amorphous GexSi1-x thin film deposited on glass substrate using a thermal evaporation technique as a function of Ge
content type of films and light intensity.

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A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 7, July 2016

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ISSN 2321-600X

2. Experimental Procedures
Germanium and silicon (GexSi1-x )alloys were prepared in an evacuated quartz tube with various atomic Ge content
(x=3-7%). Amorphous GexSi1-x (a-GexSi1-x) thin films with 350 20 nm thickness were fabricated using a thermal
evaporation technique under 2x10-6 Torr. Doped a-GexSi1-x thin films had been obtained by evaporating a mixture
composed of different atomic percentages of Al and As for p-type and n-type thin films respectively. The Ge and Si
concentrations in the alloys and films were determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), energy-dispersive spectroscopy
(EDS) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The hydrogenation and structure of the a-GexSi1-x thin films were
confirmed using double-beam Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the range of 3002500 cm-1[14]. The
photoconductivity measurement was done under applied voltage 5V and different light illumination from tungsten
halogen lamp within the range(0.4-1.5) mW/cm2 and using Keithley 616 digital electrometer for pure and doped
prepared thin GexSi1-x films.

3. Results and Discussion

The exact structure and composition of GexSi1-x alloys (x=0-1) were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energydispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS).The structure of all prepared GexSi1-x films
were amorphous. The compositional analysis obtained from the various surface techniques confirms the stoichiometry
of the GexSi1-x alloys and the homogeneity of the a- GexSi1-x: H films prepared under various deposition conditions [14].
The photoconductivity (ph) and photosensitivity (ph/d) defined as the ratio of photoconductivity (ph) to dark
conductivity (d) of various hydrogenated GexSi1-x films were measured as a function of light intensity . Figures (1ac) and (2a-c) plots showed the dependence on incident light radiation (Rad.) of photoconductivity and photosensitivity
respectively for pure and doped hydrogenated GexSi1-x films with 3.5% Al and 3.5% As with various x.

Figure 1: Variation of photoconductivity versus various incident light radiation for a-Si1-xGex: H films with different x
for (a) pure, (b) n-type (3.5%As), and (c) p-type (3.5%Al) .

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A Publisher for Research Motivation........

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The results highlight two behavior trends. The first trend shows that ph and ph/d both increased with increasing
incident light radiation, i.e. ph and ph/d increase about more than two times for all examined films with increasing
incident light intensity from 0.4 to 1.5 mW/cm2 .This is due to that the increase in incident light intensity caused
increase in excited carriers, which is results to increase ph .This behavior is similar to that shown by Shegai et al [15]
.The values of photoconductivity and photosensitivity for p-type film is more than that for n-type and pure films. The
high value of photosensitivity with increases in light illumination indicates better film quality; that is, the film contains
fewer micro voids and defect states.

Figure 2: Variation of photosensitivity versus various incident light radiation for a-Si1-xGex: H films with different x
for (a) pure, (b) n-type (3.5%As),, and (c) p-type (3.5%Al).
The second trend illustrates a decrease in both photoconductivity and photosensitivity with increasing Ge content ( x
value). The decline in film performance may be due to increased in recombination centers formed due to the increase in
localized states nears the valence band for those films deposited from ingots prepared with higher x values. Another
noticeable remark for both figures (1)and (2)is that the percentage increment in the photoconductivity and
photosensitivity with increasing incident light intensity increased with decreasing Ge content (x) and the increment of
ph and ph/d is about two times of pure a-GexSi1-x:H films for Ge content between 0.0-0.5 while for p- and n-type films
it increases about one and half for the same range of Ge content . Also the data in Fig. (2) showed that the value of
photosensitivity for pure films is lower than that for both doped films for all values of x. This result indicates an
increase in the density of states with the addition of doping. The above behavior is also affected by the fact that dark
conductivity for Ge is more than that for Si.
Figure (3a) plots the variation ph for pure and doped a-GexSi1-x: H films with 3.5% Al and 3.5% As with various x
values. The data show that, for a fix value of incident light radiation, ph decreased exponentially with increasing x

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IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 7, July 2016

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Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

value and it is decreased by about fifteen times for pure films, eight times for n-type, and six times for p-type films.
This result may be due to an increase in localized state near the band edge, which leads to the formation of new
recombination centers. The data of figure (3b) also included the dependence of the photosensitivity as a function of x,
for pure and doped thin film, for constant light illumination intensity. The decrease of photosensitivity for pure film
with increasing x value may be due to an increase in trapping formation in these films, because increasing the x value
leads to an increase of localized states, and also, as mentioned previously, d for Ge is higher than that for Si. The data
in Fig. (3) indicate similar behavior observed for films doped with 3.5% Al and 3.5% As. The values of
photoconductivity and photosensitivity for p-type films is more than that for n-type and pure prepared films.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3: Variation of (a) photoconductivity and (b) photosensitivity on various Ge content (x) for pure and
doped a-GexSi1-x:H films with 3.5% As (n-type) and 3.5% Al (p-type).

4. Conclusions
The photoconductivity and photosensitivity studies for pure and doped a- GexSi1-x: H films with Al and As prepared by
thermal evaporation under various Ge content deposited on glass substrate were obtained the following:
The values of photoconductivity and photosensitivity of a-GexSi1-x: H films increased with increasing incident light
radiation.
Increasing in Ge content for pure and doped a-GexSi1-x: H films cause decrease exponentially in photoconductivity
and photosensitivity values by four times.
The p-type film is more sensitive than that for n-type and pure films.
All prepared films are good candidate for optoelectronic devices.

References
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Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

[5] S. J. Yun, J. K. Kim, S. H. Lee, Y. J. Lee, and J. W. Lim, Phase transition of hydrogenated SiGe thin films in
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