Current transport mechanisms of amorphous n-doped silicon carbide/crystalline silicon heterostructure: Impact of nitrogen dopation

Amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) thin films were prepared by PECVD deposition technique. A gas mixture of SiH
4
, CH
4
and NH
3
was directly introduced into the reaction chamber through a shower head. Properties of deposited films were studied by electrical measurement. Temperature dependences of forward (FW) current-voltage (I–V) characteristics of Al/a-SiC/c-Si(p)/Al structures are shown and analyzed in this paper. Parameters as saturation current and activation energies were measured and calculated from forward biased I–V curves. Identification of bonds at surface of amorphous layers by FTIR was presented.