Abstract
Fast (7 nm/s) deposition of amorphous hydrogenated silicon with a midgap density of states less than 1016 cm-3 and an Urbach energy of 50 meV has been achieved using a remote argon/hydrogen plasma. The plasma is generated in a dc thermal arc (0.5 bar, 5 kW) and expands into a low pressure chamber (20 Pa) thus creating a plasma jet with a typical flow velocity of 103 m/s. Pure silane is injected into the jet immediately after the nozzle, in a typical flow mixture of Ar:H2:SiH4=55:10:10 scc/s. As the electron temperature in the recombining plasma is low (typ. 0.3 eV), silane radicals are thought to be produced mainly by hydrogen abstraction. Material quality in terms of refractive index, conductivity, microstructure parameter and optical bandgap was found to increase monotonously with substrate temperature, even up to 350 °C; for practically all low growth rate deposition schemes an optimum around 250°C is observed. It will be argued that this behavior is consistent with a simple kinetic model involving physisorption and hopping, growth on dangling bonds and thermal desorption of hydrogen.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Amorphous silicon technology 1996 : symposium, 1996, April 8-12, San Francisco, California, U.S.A. |
Editors | M. Hack |
Place of Publication | Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
Publisher | Materials Research Society |
Pages | 341-346 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISBN (Print) | 1-55899-323-1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 1996 |
Event | 1996 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit - San Francisco, United States Duration: 8 Apr 1996 → 12 Apr 1996 https://www.mrs.org/spring1996 |
Publication series
Name | Materials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings |
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Volume | 420 |
ISSN (Print) | 0272-9172 |
Conference
Conference | 1996 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | San Francisco |
Period | 8/04/96 → 12/04/96 |
Other | Symposium held at the 1996 MRS Spring Meeting |
Internet address |