Physical Properties of HWCVD Microcrystalline Silicon Thin Films: Preprint

Conference · Wed May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2002.1190835· OSTI ID:15006967

Moutinho, H R; Romero, M J; Jiang, C S; Xu, Y; Nelson, B P; Jones, K M; Mahan, A H; Al-Jassim, M M

This conference paper describes Microcrystalline silicon films were grown with different thicknesses and different hydrogen dilution ratios on glass and Si substrates. Some films were deposited with a seed layer, whereas others were deposited directly on the substrate. We used atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction to study the morphology and crystalline structure of the samples. We did not find a significant influence of the different substrates on the morphology or crystalline structure. The presence of the seed layer enhanced the crystallization process, decreasing the amount of amorphous layer present in the films. The microstructure of most films was formed by grains, with a subgrain structure. Films grown with low values of dilution ratio had (220) texture and elongated grains, whereas films deposited with high values of dilution ratio were randomly oriented and had an irregular shape.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99GO10337
• OSTI ID: 15006967
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-520-31428
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
AMORPHOUS SILICON
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY
CRYSTALLIZATION
DILUTION
GLASS SUBSTRATES
HYDROGEN
MATERIAL PROPERTIES: STRUCTURAL
VIBRATIONAL
& ELASTIC
MICROSTRUCTURE
MORPHOLOGY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PV
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (SEM)
SI BASED MATERIALS (NOT DEVICES): MICROCRYSTALLINE
SILICON
SOLAR ENERGY - PHOTOVOLTAICS
SUBSTRATES
TEXTURE
THIN FILMS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION