Temperature dependence of the surface reactivity of SiH3 radicals and the surface silicon hydride composition during amorphous silicon growth

W.M.M. Kessels, J.P.M. Hoefnagels, P.J. Oever, van den, Y. Barrell, M.C.M. Sanden, van de

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

For hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) film growth governed by SiH3 plasma radicals, the surface reaction probability ß of SiH3 and the silicon hydride (–SiHx) composition of the a-Si:H surface have been investigated by time-resolved cavity ringdown and attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, respectively. The surface hydride composition is found to change with substrate temperature from –SiH3-rich at low temperatures to SiH-rich at higher temperatures. The surface reaction probability ß, ranging from 0.20 to over 0.40 and with a mean value of ß=0.30±0.03, does not show any indication of temperature dependence and is therefore not affected by the change in surface hydride composition. It is discussed that these observations can be explained by a-Si:H film growth that is governed by H abstraction from the surface by SiH3 in an Eley-Rideal mechanism followed by the adsorption of SiH3 at the dangling bond created.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)L865-L870
JournalSurface Science
Volume547
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2003

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Temperature dependence of the surface reactivity of SiH3 radicals and the surface silicon hydride composition during amorphous silicon growth'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this