Polarized electroabsorption spectra and light soaking of solar cells based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We present grazing-incidence measurements of polarized electroabsorption spectra in p-i-n solar cells based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). We find a significantly stronger polarization dependence in the present measurements compared with earlier work based on electroabsorption detected using coplanar electrodes on a-Si:H thin films. We do not find any significant dependence of the polarized electroabsorption upon light soaking, although this effect was found in previous work with coplanar electrodes.