New two-step growth of microcrystalline silicon thin films without incubation layer

• Published in: Journal of crystal growth Vol. 322; no. 1; pp. 1 - 5
• Main Authors: Yue, Hongyun, Wu, Aimin, Zhang, Xueyu, Li, Tingju
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-05-2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: A1. Crystal structure; A1. Etching; A3. Chemical vapor deposition processes; A3. Two-step growth; Applied sciences; B2. Semiconducting silicon; B3. Solar cells; Chemical vapor deposition (including plasma-enhanced cvd, mocvd, etc.); Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Crystal growth; Crystal structure; Deposition; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Materials science; Methods of crystal growth; physics of crystal growth; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Natural energy; Optimization; Photovoltaic conversion; Physics; Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition; Silicon films; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Structure of specific crystalline solids; Theory and models of crystal growth; physics of crystal growth, crystal morphology and orientation; Thin films; Volume fraction; A1. Etching; A3. Two-step growth; B3. Solar cells; A3. Chemical vapor deposition processes; A1. Crystal structure; B2. Semiconducting silicon; Solar cells; Amorphous thin film; Semiconductor materials; Electron cyclotron-resonance; Plasma assisted processing; Crystal seeds; Etching; Raman spectroscopy; Thin films; CVD; Transmission electron microscopy; Growth mechanism; Silicon; PECVD; Microstructure; Crystal structure
• ISSN: 0022-0248; 1873-5002
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2011.03.006

A new two-step growth method was proposed to fabricate microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin films by an electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (ECR-PECVD). An ultra thin Si film was first deposited and followed by H
2 plasma treatment for few minutes, and then the μc-Si:H film was deposited on it. High-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) and Raman spectrometer were used to study the microstructures and the crystalline volume fraction of μc-Si:H films. The HRTEM results show that the amorphous silicon thin film with a thickness of 15
nm can be crystallized by H
2 plasma treatment in 2
min, and then it serves as the seed layer for the subsequent growth of μc-Si:H films. By optimizing the deposition parameters, the μc-Si:H film without amorphous incubation layer can be fabricated by this new two-step method and a proper crystalline volume fraction of 50.6% can be obtained.