Advanced diagnostics for exploring the growth mechanism of plasma deposited materials

Insight into the growth mechanism of plasma deposited materials is essential for full optimization of the deposition process and improvement of the material properties of the deposited films. The complexity of the deposition process requires knowledge on the different aspects of plasma deposition. This means that in addition to measurements of the gas phase densities of the plasma species, also experiments on the species’ surface reactivity are required as well as on the "nature" of the surface during film growth. In the following sections, some studies concerning these three different aspects will be shortly reviewed. It will be concentrated on the technologically very relevant deposition processes of a-Si:H and a-SiNx:H, which are both known to be dominated by radical species rather than by ions.