TITLE:
The High Energy Region of the Absorption Edge of a-Si:H, a Theoretical Study—III
AUTHORS:
Salwan Kamal Jamil Al-Ani, Abdullah Ibrahim, Subhi Saeed Al-Rawi
KEYWORDS:
High Energy; Absorption Edge
JOURNAL NAME:
Materials Sciences and Applications,
Vol.3 No.8,
August
22,
2012
ABSTRACT: In this paper we try to give a reasonable account for the origin of the experimental optical energy gap Eo of a-Si:H deduced from the plot due to Cody ( vs. E). Using a realistic model density of states diagram for a-Si:H and the constant dipole matrix element assumption, and a reasonable definition of the real optical energy gap EG, a new theoretical equation for ε2(E) was derived. The plot of the square root of this function as a function of the photon energy E for appropriate fitting parameters gives a straight line fit in the energy region of significance extrapolating to the energy axis at a value similar to the experimental optical gap but about 0.1 eV lower than the theoretical optical gap EG proposed in our paper. We conclude that the experimental optical gap Eo does not necessarily coincide with any optical transition threshold in the density of states diagram of a-Si:H.