Auger and EELS Study of a-Si1−x Cx:H Alloys

ABSTRACTIt is shown that Auger and electron energy loss spectroscopies can provide a well defined picture of the local bonding and structure of a-Si1−x Cx:H alloys. The samples were found macroscopically homogeneous but microscopically heterogeneous on a scale of few Angstroms. A simple model where the tetrahedral network is chemically ordered at low x values and carbon tends to segregate in C-C microclusters at high x values seems to reproduce the data very well. By fitting the C and Si Auger spectra it was possible to have a quantitative determination of the percentage of different configurations.