5 global spectrum. Selonsertib datasheet Results and discussion The relative elemental composition of the P-doped Si-NCs/SiN x films was estimated from XPS spectra. The calculation of the chemical composition is based on the integrated area under the N 1 s, Si 2p, and P 2p peaks in conjunction with the sensitivity factors for the elements [16]. Figure 1a shows

Si and P concentrations in the samples as a function of the R c value. The Si concentration decreases from 70.8 to 62.9 atomic percent (at.%) with the N2/SiH4 flow ratio adjusted from 0.73 to 0.83, while the P concentration is kept around 3 at.% since the PH3/SiH4 flow ratio was kept constant during film growth. In order to obtain efficient carrier extraction, a photovoltaic device generally requires the presence of a p-n junction for carrier separation. Thus, active doping of phosphorus in Si-NCs is required for Si-NCs/sc-Si heterojunction solar cells. In this study, XPS was also used to study the chemical structure of P-doped SRN films after post-growth annealing. Figure 1b shows

the Si 2p XPS spectrum of a representative SRN sample with R c = 0.79 after annealing. The deconvolution Staurosporine solubility dmso of the Si 2p signal consists of two peaks centered around 99.6 and 101.3 eV, which correspond to elemental Si and Si coordinated in the SiN x network, respectively [17]. The analysis of the Si 2p peak indicates that the excess Si

atoms precipitate out from the dielectric network, leading to the phase separation and formation of Si-NCs. The change in the XPS peak intensity ratio I Si-Si/(I Si-Si + I Si-N) was applied to investigate the influence of the N/Si ratio on the phase separation in annealed SRN films. As expected, the I Si-Si/(I Si-Si + I Si-N) decreases with JAK assay increasing R c value (shown in Figure 1c), implying that both phase separation and Si crystallization next are reduced in the sample with a lower excess Si concentration. The P 2p XPS signal of the annealed SRN film could be deconvoluted into two peaks centered around 129.2 and 130.3 eV (shown in Figure 1d), which are assigned to P atoms surrounded in part with Si atoms and pure phosphorous, respectively [17]. As depicted in Figure 1c, the value of I Si-P/(I Si-P + I P-P) decreases when increasing the N2/SiH4 flow ratio. It is suggested that the concentration of the Si-P bond is proportional to the excess Si concentration, implying that phosphorus atoms may exist inside the Si-NCs or at the interfaces between Si-NCs and the SiN x matrix in the form of Si-P bonds. Figure 1 XPS analysis of P-doped Si-NCs/SiN x films. (a) Si and P concentrations in P-doped Si-NCs/SiN x films as a function of the R c value. (b) Deconvolution analysis of a representative Si 2p XPS spectrum of the P-doped Si-NCs/SiN x sample with R c = 0.79.