Compton scattering in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Abstract

The Compton profile (CP) of hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si: H) prepared by glow discharge from silane has been measured with a ²⁴¹Am γ source and compared with a CP of polycrystalline Si. By fitting the high-momentum part of both the CPs the hydrogen content of a-Si: H could be determined. The one-dimensional Fourier transforms (autocorrelation functions) of the CPs exhibit no significant differences at correlation distances beyond the Si–Si bonding distance. By decomposing the experimental a-Si: H CP into contributions of Si–H bonds and of Si–Si bonds some qualitative conclusions concerning the structure of hydrogen incorporated into an amorphous Si matrix can be drawn.