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Structural and optoelectronic properties of amorphous and microcrystalline silicon deposited at low substrate temperatures by RF and HW CVD

Conference ·
OSTI ID:20107890

The structural and optoelectronic properties of silicon thin films prepared by hot wire chemical vapor deposition and radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition are studied in the range of substrate temperatures (T{sub sub}) from 100 C to 25 C. The defect density, structure factor and bond angle disorder of amorphous silicon films (a-Si:H) deposited by both techniques are strongly improved by the use of hydrogen dilution. Correlation of these structural properties with important optoelectronic properties, such as photo-to-dark conductivity ratio, is made. Microcrystalline silicon ({micro}c-Si:H) is obtained using HW with a large crystalline fraction for hydrogen dilutions above 85% independently of T{sub sub}. The deposition of {micro}c-Si:H by RF requires increasing the hydrogen dilution and shows decreasing crystalline fraction as T{sub sub} is decreased. The properties of the low T{sub sub} films are compared to those of samples produced at 175 C and 250 C in the same reactors.

Research Organization:
Inst. de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Lisboa (PT)
OSTI ID:
20107890
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English