Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Deuteron magnetic resonance (DMR) resolves structures such as tightly bound D, weakly bound D, molecular HD and D2 in microvoids and trapped on nanovoid internal surfaces in plasma-deposited a-Si:D,H and a-Ge:D,H. The relative populations of these structures correlate with photovoltaic quality as characterized by photo response function ημτ in a series of deuterated a-Ge and a-Si films. It is found that photo-illumination produces DMR-detected changes in these populations. The changes, which are reversible upon a 150°C dark anneal, include a quadrupolar doublet from strained-bond configurations and a shift from metastable electronic species. The spin-lattice relaxation of most of the components follows an error-function behavior characteristic of magnetization transport under extreme inhomogeneity.