Use of Optical Microscopy to Examine Crystallite Nucleation and Growth in Thermally Annealed Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition and Hot Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition a-Si:H Films
We report a simple method to investigate crystallite nucleation and growth in stepwise, thermally annealed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and hot wire chemical vapor deposition a-Si:H films. By confining film thicknesses to the range 500-4000 {angstrom}, optical microscopy in the reflection mode can be used to readily detect crystallites in the thermally annealed a-Si:H lattice. Measurements of the crystallite density versus annealing time for identically prepared films of different thickness show that the crystallite nucleation rate is smaller for thinner films, suggesting that crystallite nucleation is homogeneous, in agreement with previous results. A comparison of film nucleation rates with those obtained by other methods on identically prepared films shows excellent agreement, thus establishing the validity of the current technique. The potential effect of impurity (oxygen) incorporation during the stepwise annealing in air is shown not to affect crystallite nucleation and growth, in that SIMS oxygen profiles for stepwise versus continuous annealing show not only similar impurity profiles but also similar bulk impurity densities.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1048996
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5200-55677; JAPIAU; TRN: US201217%%267
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 111, Issue 10; Related Information: Article No. 103501; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
On the Effect of the Film Hydrogen Content and Deposition Type on the Grain Nucleation and Grain Growth During Crystallization of a-Si:H Films: Preprint
Structural and optical properties of a-Si:H/{mu}c-Si:H:B junctions in the a-Si:H:-based n-i-p solar cell configuration