Electrical properties of metal-silicon nitride-hydrogenated amorphous silicon capacitor elucidated using admittance spectroscopy

Detailed admittance spectroscopy was performed on a metal-silicon nitride-hydrogenated amorphous silicon (MIAS) structure. On the basis of the properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), three simplified equivalent circuit models under various operating conditions (accumulation, depletion and full depletion) are presented along with an alternative direct measurement method at room temperature. Admittance spectroscopy shows that the interface states density between silicon nitride (SiN_x) and a-Si:H can be determined from the depletion equivalent circuit model. The resisivity and activation energy of a-Si:H can also be obtained using the accumulation and depletion equivalent circuit models. These models can be employed easily to monitor the fabrication parameters of thin-films transistors (TFTs) and to accurately and directly obtain the capacitance model parameters of TFTs.