The effect of atmospheric contaminants on the electrical properties of plasma-deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon for use in photovoltaic cells

Current measurements were begun on fresh samples within 1.5 h after removal from the plasma generator. These invariably showed a transient which decayed, over a period of a day, to a steady state, as seen in Figure 1. On short circuiting, the current measured was zero. On reapplication of the bias, the current which flowed was transientless and of the same magnitude as the previous steady-state current.