The configurational energy gap between amorphous and crystalline silicon

The crystallization enthalpy of pure amorphous silicon (a-Si) and hydrogenated a-Si was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for a large set of materials deposited from the vapour phase by different techniques. Although the values cover a wide range (200-480 J/g), the minimum value is common to all the deposition techniques used and close to the predicted minimum strain energy of relaxed a-Si (240 ± 25 J/g). This result gives a reliable value for the configurational energy gap between a-Si and crystalline silicon. An excess of enthalpy above this minimum value can be ascribed to coordination defects.