Dr.ir. A.H.M. Smets

Professor

Arno Smets was born in 1974 in Maasbree in The Netherlands.  After finishing his high school education at the Bouwens van der Boye College in Panningen in 1992, he studied physics at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). In December 1997 he finished his Masters in the Equilibrium and Transport in Plasmas group at the Physics Department under supervision of Prof. Daan Schram. At the same group he performed under supervision of Prof. Richard van de Sanden his PhD. From this point in time, his work was mainly focused on plasma processing of thin silicon films for photovoltaic applications. In the spring of 2000, Arno Smets spent 3 months during a working visit at the group of Prof. C.R. Wronski at the Penn State University and to the group of Prof. R.W. Collins at Material Research Lab in State College, USA. Arno Smets defended on May 20th 2002 his PhD thesis: “Growth Related Material Properties of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon”.  After his PhD, he worked as a Post-doc within the Helianthos Project, which is a collaboration between Akzo Nobel (currently NUON Helianthos), Eindhoven University of Technology, Delft University of Technology, Utrecht University and TNO. In March 2005 Arno moved to Tsukuba in Japan and joined as a visiting Researcher the Research Center for Photovoltaics under leadership of Michio Kondo at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). From January 2008-february 2010 he managed a collaboration between AIST in Japan, and the TU/e and NUON Helianthos in the Netherlands. From March 2010 Arno Smets is associate professor at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands in the Photovoltaic Material and Devices group of Prof. Miro Zeman at the faculty Electronic Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Sciences.

Arno Smets has worked on a wide variety of topics related to the plasma processing of thin silicon films for photovoltaic applications, mainly focused on the second generation technology. Among many of his research topics and achievements are: plasma technology development, development of high deposition rates of hydrogenated amorphous and microcrystalline silicon, large area deposition, development of novel in-situ diagnostics to monitor plasma processes, plasma-surface interaction and thin film growth, study of dust generation in plasma environments, study of the mechanisms involved in thin silicon growth with respect to deposition rate, temperature and ion induced film-modifications, fundamental understanding of microstructures and related properties of thin silicon films, study of instable thin silicon properties related to the Staebler-Wronski effect or oxidation of thin silicon films, processing of thin film silicon based photovoltaic devices and development of novel concepts to further enhance the efficiencies of thin film silicon photovoltaic devices.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Room:   LB 03.420
Phone:  +31 (0)15 27 88739
Telefax: +31 (0)15 27 82968
Skypename: arnosmets

e-mail

Prof.Dr. Arno Smets
Photovoltaic Materials and Devices
EWI Faculty - Delft University of Technology
Mekelweg 4
2628  C D   DELFT
The Netherlands

List of publications

T. Nagai, A.H.M. Smets, and M. Kondo,  Formation of SiH3 Radicals and Nanoparticles in SiH4-H2 Plasmas Observed by Time-Resolved Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 47, 7032 (2008).

A.H.M. Smets, T. Matsui, and M. Kondo, High-rate deposition of microcrystalline silicon p-i-n solar cells in the high pressure depletion regime, submitted to J. Appl. Phys. 104, 034508 (2008).

A.H.M. Smets, T. Matsui, and M. Kondo, Infrared analysis of the bulk silicon-hydrogen bonds as an optimization tool for high-rate deposition of microcrystalline silicon solar cells, Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 033506 (2008).

T. Nagai, A.H.M.  Smets, and M. Kondo, Time resolved cavity ringdown spectroscopy on nanoparticle generation in a SiH4-H2 VHF plasma, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 354, 2096 (2008).

 A.H.M. Smets and M.C.M. van de Sanden, The relation of the Si-H stretching frequency to the nanostructural Si-H bulk environment, Physical Review B. 76, 073202 (2007)

A.H.M. Smets, W.M.M. Kessels, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, The effect of ion-surface and ion-bulk interactions during hydrogenated amorphous silicon deposition, J. Appl. Phys. 102, 073523 (2007)

T. Nagai, A.H.M.  Smets, and M. Kondo,  Study of spatial distribution of SiH3 radicals in very high frequency plasma using cavity ringdown spectroscopy, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1 (Regular Papers, Short Notes & Review Papers), vol.45, no.10B, Oct. 2006, pp. 8095-8.

A.H.M. Smets and M. Kondo, The role of ion-bulk interactions during high rate deposition of microcrystalline silicon by means of the multi-hole-cathode VHF plasma, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol.352, no.9-20, 15 June 2006, pp. 937-40.

A.H.M. Smets, W.M.M.  Kessels, and M.C.M.  van de Sanden, Surface-diffusion-controlled incorporation of nanosized voids during hydrogenated amorphous silicon film growth, Applied Physics Letters, vol.86, no.4, 24 Jan. 2005, pp. 41909-1-3

J. Willekens, M. Brinza, T. Gungor, G.J.  Adriaenssens, M.  Nesladek, W.M.M. Kessels, A.H.M. Smets, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, Optical spectroscopy of the density of gap states in ETP-deposited a-Si:H, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol.338-340, 15 June 2004, pp. 244-8. 

I.M.P. Aarts, B. Hoex, A.H.M.Smets, R. Engeln, W.M.M. Kessels, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, Direct and highly sensitive measurement of defect-related absorption in amorphous silicon thin films by cavity ringdown spectroscopy, Applied Physics Letters Vol. 84, No. 16, 19 April 2004, pp. 3079-3081.

W.M.M. Kessels, A.H.M. Smets, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, The a-Si:H growth mechanism and the role of H abstraction from the surface by SiH3 radicals via an Eley-Rideal mechanism, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol.338-340, 15 June 2004, pp. 27-31. 

A.H.M. Smets, W.M.M. Kessels, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, Vacancies and voids in hydrogenated amorphous silicon, Applied Physics Letters, vol.82, no.10, 10 March 2003, pp. 1547-9

A.H.M. Smets, W.M.M. Kessels, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, Temperature dependence of the surface roughness evolution during hydrogenated amorphous silicon film growth, Applied Physics Letters, vol.82, no.6, 10 Feb. 2003, pp. 865-7.

A.H.M. Smets, J.H. van Helden, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, Bulk and surface defects in a-Si:H films studied by means of the cavity ring down absorption technique, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol.299-302, pt.A, April 2002, pp. 610-14.

M. Brinza, G.J. Adriaenssens, K. Iakoubovskii, A. Stesmans, W.M.M. Kessels, A.H.M.  Smets, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, Time-of-flight photocurrents in expanding-thermal-plasma-deposited a-Si:H, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol.299-302, pt.A, April 2002, pp. 420-4. 

W.M.M. Kessels, A.H.M. Smets, D.C. Marra, E.S. Aydil, D.C. Schram, M.C.M. van de Sanden MCM, On the growth mechanism of a-Si:H, Thin Solid Films, vol.383, no.1-2, 15 Feb. 2001, pp. 154-60. 

W.M.M. Kessels, R.J. Severens, A.H.M. Smets, B.A. Korevaar, G.J. Adriaenssens, D.C.  Schram, and M.C.M. van de Sanden, Hydrogenated amorphous silicon deposited at very high growth rates by an expanding Ar-H2-SiH4 plasma,  Journal of Applied Physics, vol.89, no.4, 15 Feb. 2001, pp. 2404-13.

A.H.M. Smets, D.C. Schram, and M.C.M. van de Sanden,  In situ single wavelength ellipsometry studies of high rate hydrogenated amorphous silicon growth using a remote expanding thermal plasma, Journal of Applied Physics, vol.88, no.11, 1 Dec. 2000, pp. 6388-94.

G.J. Adriaenssens, H.Z. Song, V.I. Arkhipov, E.V. Emelianova, W.M.M. Kessels, A.H.M. Smets, B.A. Korevaar, M.C.M. van de Sanden,  Analysis of time-of-flight photocurrents in a-Si : H deposited by expanding thermal plasma, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2000, pp. 31-42.

B.A. Korevaar, G.J. Adriaenssens, A.H.M. Smets, W.M.M. Kessels, H.-Z. Song, M.C.M.  van de Sanden, and D.C. Schram,  High hole drift mobility in a-Si:H deposited at high growth rates for solar cell application, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, vol.266-269, May 2000, pp. 380-4. 

A.H.M. Smets, M.C.M. van de Sanden, and D.C  Schram, In situ ellipsometric studies of the a-Si:H growth using an expanding thermal plasma, Thin Solid Films, vol.343-344, April 1999, pp. 281-4. 

M.C.M. van de Sanden, M.F.A.M. van Hest, A. de Graaf, A.H.M. Smets, K.G.Y. Letourneur, M.G.H. Boogaarts, and D.C. Schram, Plasma chemistry of an expanding Ar/C2H2 plasma used for fast deposition of a-C:H, Diamond and Related Materials, vol.8, no.2-5, March 1999, pp. 677-81. 

P.M. Koenraad, J.M. Shi, A.F.W. van de Stadt, A.H.M. Smets, J.T. Devreese, J.H. Wolter JH, F.M. Peeters, and J.A.A.J. Perenboom,  Spatial correlation effects of charged impurities on electron mobility in δ-doped quantum barriers,  Superlattices and Microstructures, vol.21, no.2, 1997, pp. 237-40.