LAUSR

In this short report, the specific molecular coacervate and two kinds of quantum states in indium-involved amorphous silicon oxide [a-SiOx(In)] are studied. The a-SiOx(In) layer is prepared by the magnetron sputtering process for indium tin oxide (ITO) films deposited on n-type silicon substrates, which has been predicted by molecular dynamics simulation and density function theory calculation. The results have been applied to the interpretation of the electronic structure and hole tunneling transport in ITO-SiOx/n-Si photovoltaic (PV) devices. The most significant achievement is that there is either a transition level at 0.30 eV for p-type conductive conversion or an extra level at Ev + 4.60 eV induced by In-O-Si bonding, denoted as molecular orbital levels, within the dielectric amorphous oxide (a-SiOx). The cognizance is crucial for the concepts of passivation, tunneling, selective contact, inversion, and useful defects in modern PV devices.