Laser-Induced Nanostructured Si and SiGe Layers for Enhanced Optical and Thermoelectric Performance

Joumana El-Rifai; Eliane Bsaibess; Stavros Christopoulos; Fabien Giovannelli; Ahmed Slimani; Valerie Laux-Le Guyon

doi:10.1021/acsomega.4c06006

Laser-Induced Nanostructured Si and SiGe Layers for Enhanced Optical and Thermoelectric Performance

ACS Omega. 2024 Nov 20;9(48):47506-47518. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c06006. eCollection 2024 Dec 3.

Authors

Joumana El-Rifai^{1

2}, Eliane Bsaibess^{1

2}, Stavros Christopoulos^{1

2}, Fabien Giovannelli³, Ahmed Slimani^{1

2}, Valerie Laux-Le Guyon^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sciences and Engineering, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 38044, United Arab Emirates.
² SUAD Research Institute, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi 38044, United Arab Emirates.
³ GREMAN, Université de Tours, CNRS, INSA Centre Val de Loire, UMR7347, IUT de Blois, 15 Rue de la Chocolaterie, Blois cedex 41029, France.

Abstract

We investigate a method for fabricating layers that exhibit both high optical absorption and promising thermoelectric properties. Using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), amorphous Si and Si₇₂Ge₂₈ layers are deposited on glass substrates and subsequently processed via laser annealing to achieve nanostructured layers. Our results show that a single laser annealing pulse at 40 mJ yields the highest power factor, approximately 90 μW/m·K². Additionally, we observe a maximum absorbance enhancement factor of 60 times in the spectral region near 880 nm for samples treated with a single pulse of 60 mJ compared to untreated samples. The effects of laser energy, the number of pulses, and material choice are further discussed.