Electrical Transport in Porous Structures of Si-Ge/ c -Si Formed by the Electrochemical Deposition of Germanium in Porous Silicon

Film structures based on Si 1– x Ge x (0 < x < 1) solid solutions are currently obtained by chemical-vapor-deposition methods. For device application of the obtained structures, it is necessary to know the electrical properties of the material synthesized under different conditions. In this work, we carry out galvanomagnetic studies of the electrical conductivity in porous and solid Si 1– x Ge x films, as well as the concentration and mobility of the majority charge carriers in them at a temperature of 30–300 K. It is shown that, as in pure silicon and germanium of comparable porosity, the electrical conductivity in the studied samples can be considered as in a medium with voids. It is established that the type of majority charge carriers in the alloy is determined by the type of silicon substrate used. This is practically important for creating both arms of a thermoelectric converter, which makes the method for producing Si 1– x Ge x (0 < x < 1) alloy promising for device applications, in particular in thermoelectric converters and lithium-ion batteries.