Interfaces effectives et pentes d'Urbach de multicouches a-Si:H/a-SiNx:H
Optical and structural measurements are presented for glow discharge multilayer structures of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiNx:H). Two sets of samples are presented. For set A, the barrier thickness as well as the number of double layers are kept constant whereas, for set B, samples have both constant composition and total thickness. Small-angle X-ray reflectivity measurements (reflectometry) are analyzed using a theoretical model based on the transfer matrix method. This analysis yields an effective width between 1.5 and 2.0 nm for the interfaces. The increase of the Urbach slope parameter with decreasing well layer thickness is measured by photothermal deflection spectroscopy and by Fourier transform photoacoustic spectroscopy. This dependence is analyzed by taking into account the effective interface thickness and it is studied by using the optical absorption model of Abe and Toyozawa (J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 50, 2185 (1981)). Both sets of samples show the same behavior, which leads to the conclusion that the Urbach slope increase is due to interface effects.