Electron paramagnetic resonance of amorphous silicon nitride

The increasing use of hydrogenated amorphous silicon and its alloys has been a boon to the optoelectronics industry. The most attractive aspects of these amorphous materials are their ability to be deposited over large areas at relatively low substrate temperatures. By alloying, films can be produced with a wide range of bandgaps. These features, and many others, have led to an intense study of amorphous silicon films and their many applications.

The applications of hydrogenated amorphous silicon - silicon nitride (a-Si:H/a-SiNx:H) have become as far ranging as the methods used to study thenL Thin film transistors (TFTs) made using these films have such diverse applications as the switching elements in active matrix, liquid crystal flat panel displays [1], in printing and document scanning [2] and logic devices [3]. Silicon nitride films deposited using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) have been shown to be ideal as the insulating layer in metal-insulator-silicon solar cells [4]. Other uses include the gate dielectrics in metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) power transistors, and as the charge storage layer in metal-nitride-oxide-semiconductor (MNOS) non-volatile memory devices [5].