Unexpected short- and medium-range atomic structure of sputtered amorphous silicon upon thermal annealing
- Department of Electronic Materials Engineering, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200 (Australia)
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)
- Electron Microscope Unit, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052 (Australia)
We investigate the structure of magnetron-sputtered (MS) amorphous silicon (a-Si) prepared under standard deposition conditions and compare this to pure ion-implanted (II) a-Si. The structure of both films is characterized in their as-prepared and thermally annealed states. Significant differences are observed in short- and medium-range order following thermal annealing. Whereas II a-Si undergoes structural relaxation toward a continuous random network, MS a-Si exhibits little change. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy reveals the presence of nanopores in the MS film consistent with reduced mass-density. Therefore, the short- and medium-range order of annealed, MS a-Si is tentatively attributed to these pores.
- OSTI ID:
- 22036763
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 110, Issue 9; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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