@article{876ec67d051444e79dc88820fdc48de0,
title = "The absolute luminescence quantum efficiency in hydrogenated amorphous silicon",
abstract = "Using photothermal deflection spectroscopy in liquid nitrogen, the absolute quantum efficiency of hydrogenated amorphous silicon has been determined to be 19%±10% at ∼72K. Correction for thermal quenching and Auger recombination indicates that the maximum efficiency is only 27%. No significant wavelength dependence is observed. The results suggest that other non-radiative mechansisms are important.",
author = "Jackson, {Warren B.} and Nemanich, {R. J.}",
note = "Funding Information: The results imply that there are additional recombination mechanisms other than dangling bonds, thermal ionization, and Auger effects. One possibility is surface recombination. If surface recombination is a major recombination channel, one should expect a strong dependence of the luminescence efficiency on the applied electric field and photon energy. Since these dependences are not significant, other non-radiative decay mechanisms probably exist. For example, a large electron-phonon coupling would cause the multi-phonon decay rate to increase significantly. The Si-H bond, regions of (Sill2) chains, or hydrogenated internal voids may have such a large coupling. Due to the large energy of the Si-H vibration, emission of only ~5 phonons will completely dissipate the luminescence energy. Since the luminescence lifetime is ~1ms, 7 the multi-phonon rate does not have to be very large to significantly reduce the quantum efficiency. Thus, we have shown that the luminescence quantum efficiency is at most 30%. The data suggests that there are other efficient recombination paths which may involve multi-phonon recombination. In addition, photothermal deflection spectroscopy has been extended to lower temperatures and provides both the magnitude and spatial distribution of non-radiative recombination energy. We would like to thank R. Street for helpful discussions, and J. Zesch and B. Stafford for their help with sample preparation. This work was supported in part by Solar Energy Research Contract No. XB-2-02105-1. Copyright: Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
year = "1983",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1016/0022-3093(83)90593-8",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "59-60",
pages = "353--356",
journal = "Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids",
issn = "0022-3093",
publisher = "Elsevier",
number = "PART 1",
}