Chemical vapor deposition of boron-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Deposition conditions and film properties for a variety of boron-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon films and silicon-carbon films produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are discussed. Deposition gases include monosilane, disilane, trisilane, and acetylene. Two types of optically wide band-gap p layers are obtained. One of these window p layers (without carbon) has been extensively tested in photovoltaic devices. Remarkably, this p layer can be deposited between about 200 to 300°C. A typical open circuit voltage in an all CVD p-i-n device is 0.70-0.72 V, and in a hybrid device where the i and n layers are deposited by glow discharge, 0.8-0.83 V.