Crystallinity, morphology, and conductivity of boron-doped microcrystalline silicon

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:5277239

Rajeswaran, G; Tafto, J; Sabatini, R L; Vanier, P E

Boron-doped microcrystalline (..mu..c) silicon films produced by rf glow discharge from dilute (1%) mixtures of SiH/sub 4/ in H/sub 2/ show a critical dependence of conductivity on deposition conditions. The dark conductivity was related to the microscopic features using electron microscopy. The ..mu..c-Si:H films contain clusters of crystallites embedded in an amorphous matrix. The size of the crystalline clusters is typically 0.2 ..mu..m in diameter, and the size of the individual crystallites is about 2.5 nm. Electron micrographs of samples prepared at substrate temperatures T/sub s/=135/sup 0/C, 150/sup 0/C, 165/sup 0/C, and 180/sup 0/C show that the number of crystalline clusters increases with T/sub s/ up to 165/sup 0/C. At T/sub s/=180/sup 0/C, the crystallites completely disappear. When the concentration of SiH/sub 4/ in H/sub 2/ is decreased to 0.25%, the microstructure shows a high density of crystallites with no apparent clustering.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 5277239
• Report Number(s): BNL-34123; CONF-831174-71; ON: DE84006482
• Resource Relation: Conference: Materials Research Society annual meeting, Boston, MA, USA, 14 Nov 1983
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
SILICON
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
MICROSTRUCTURE
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
FILMS
HYDROGEN
SILANES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
NONMETALS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SEMIMETALS
SILICON COMPOUNDS
360602* - Other Materials- Structure & Phase Studies