Crystallinity, morphology, and conductivity of boron-doped microcrystalline silicon
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
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
360602* -- Other Materials-- Structure & Phase Studies
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
FILMS
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
MICROSCOPY
MICROSTRUCTURE
NONMETALS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SEMIMETALS
SILANES
SILICON
SILICON COMPOUNDS