The influence of an air atmosphere on the electrical properties of two-phase films of hydrogenated silicon

Amorphous and microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon is an important material in modern thinfilm electronics. In some cases, the electrical parameters of silicon film samples depend on the ambient environment, in particular, the air. In this work we studied the effect of air exposure on the electrical properties of two-phase silicon films with a volume fraction of the crystalline phase of 0 to 80%. It was shown that the change in the conductivity of the two-phase films that were exposed to the air atmosphere depends on the proportion between the amorphous and microcrystalline phases that form the film microstructure. The use of two differing methods for film manufacturing allowed us to qualitatively evaluate how the conductivity of the films with a nonuniform structure across the thickness is affected by gas adsorption from air onto the film surface. Air exposure of the samples with a small amount of the crystalline phase located near the film surface leads to the specific features of temperature dependence of their conductivity.