Bilayer structures which were composed of hydrogenated amorphous materials were prepared on fused quartz substrates and their interfacial Si dangling bonds were studied by using electron spin resonance techniques. The electron spin resonance data revealed that a structure with the nitride next to the quartz contained a lower number of neutral dangling bonds in the interface than did a structure in which the Si was next to the quartz. Photoconductivity measurements supported this finding. However, a higher number of charged dangling bonds in the interface existed in the first structure than in the second structure. The higher number of interfacial neutral dangling bonds in the second structure was suggested to be caused by ultra-violet irradiation from the plasma during the deposition of the amorphous hydrogenated nitride layer.

H.Min, I.Fukushi, A.Masuda, A.Morimoto, M.Kumeda, T.Shimizu: Applied Physics Letters, 1995, 66[20], 2718-20