Photoemission measurements on aluminium and amorphous silicon by pulsed laser illumination in presence of a plasma

In this paper the effect of the illumination of a surface by a pulsed laser beam was studied. Al layers and intrinsic and doped amorphous silicon films were illuminated in vacuum, in the presence of different gases and under a DC plasma. The wavelength of the pulsed beam ranged from 308 to 348 nm. Applied bias influenced strongly the measured signal when performing experiments in a gas atmosphere. While no photoemission was detected on both intrinsic and p-type amorphous Si:H, a signal was obtained on n-type a-Si:H if a gas atmosphere is present.