Characteristics of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Films Prepared by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition Method and Their Application to Photodiodes

Kobayashi, Kenzo; Hayama, Masahiro; Kawamoto, Shunji; Miki, Hiderjiro

doi:10.1143/jjap.26.202

Cited by 41 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In this respect, one of the central questions is whether it is possible to deposit a-Si:H suitable for the application in thin solar cells at high growth rates (preferablyϾ1 nm/s). Several investigations have already addressed this question, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and recently it was shown that device-quality a-Si:H can be obtained even at a rate of 10 nm/s with the expanding thermal plasma. 11,12 This technique combines a high-pressure thermal plasma source with a low-pressure deposition chamber and is, therefore, a real remote plasma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Film growth precursors in a remote SiH4 plasma used for high-rate deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Kessels

Sanden

Schram

2000

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

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The SiH4 dissociation products and their contribution to hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) film growth have been investigated in a remote Ar–H2–SiH4 plasma which is capable of depositing device-quality a-Si:H at 10 nm/s. SiH3 radicals have been detected by means of threshold ionization mass spectrometry for different fractions of H2 in the Ar–H2-operated plasma source. It is shown that at high-H2 flows, SiH4 dissociation is dominated by hydrogen abstraction and that SiH3 contributes dominantly to film growth. At low-H2 flows, a significant amount of very reactive silane radicals, SiHx(x⩽2), is produced, as concluded from threshold ionization mass spectrometry on SiH2 and optical emission spectroscopy on excited SiH and Si. These radicals are created by dissociative recombination reactions of silane ions with electrons and they, or their products after reacting with SiH4, make a large contribution to film growth at low-H2 flows. This is corroborated by the overall surface reaction probability which decreases from ∼0.5 to ∼0.3 with increasing H2 fraction. The film properties improve with increasing H2 flow and device-quality a-Si:H is obtained at high H2 fractions where SiH3 dominates film growth. Furthermore, it is shown that at high-H2 flows the contribution of SiH3 is independent of the SiH4 flow while the deposition rate varies over one order of magnitude.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Film growth precursors in a remote SiH4 plasma used for high-rate deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Kessels

Sanden

Schram

2000

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

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“…However, AO from ECR plasma, in particular, is found to be more attractive due to several advantages. ECR plasma sources offer advantages such as high ionization efficiency, lower and broad range of operating pressures, low temperature processes, directionality of the ion and even neutral beam, and controllable ion energies of wide range (2-30 eV) [11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of atomic oxygen from an ECR plasma source

Naddaf

Bhoraskar

Mandale

et al. 2002

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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A low-power microwave-assisted electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma system is shown to be a powerful and effective source of atomic oxygen (AO) useful in material processing. A 2.45 GHz microwave source with maximum power of 600 W was launched into the cavity to generate the ECR plasma. A catalytic nickel probe was used to determine the density of AO. The density of AO is studied as a function of pressure and axial position of the probe in the plasma chamber. It was found to vary from ∼1 × 10 20 to ∼10 × 10 20 atom m −3 as the plasma pressure was varied from 0.8 to 10 mTorr. The effect of AO in oxidation of silver is investigated by gravimetric analysis. The stoichiometric properties of the oxide are studied using the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy as well as energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The degradation of the silver surface due to sputtering effect was viewed by scanning electron spectroscopy. The sputtering yield of oxygen ions in the plasma is calculated using the TRIM code. The effects of plasma pressure and the distance from the ECR zone on the AO density were also investigated. The density of AO measured by oxidation of silver is in good agreement with results obtained from the catalytic nickel probe.

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“…An electron cylcotron resonance (ECR) plasma is generated at a relatively low pressure with a high degree of ionization, a high electron temperature a strongly anisotropic motion of the charged particles. Owing to these properties the ECR plasma has been used for chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of thin films [1][2][3][4]. In the ECR plasma CVD of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), the film precursors such as Si, SiH, SiH 2 and SiH 3 are produced not only by electron collision with SiH 4 in the gas phase but also by electron collision with SiH 4 physisorbed on the growing surface [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ions extracted from the ECR plasma region by the divergent magnetic field also impinge on the growing surface and induce the relaxation of a silicon network [4,7]. This action of ions is strongly related to the fact that the higher the deposition rate becomes, the higher the quality of the film [4], which has been demonstrated to be an advantage of the ECR plasma CVD process [2][3][4]. This is quite different from a conventional RF plasma CVD method in which high-quality film is obtained at a lower deposition rate [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominant radicals in electron cyclotron resonance plasma CVD

Zhang

Nakayama

1996

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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The dominant SiH x radicals for growth of a-Si:H films in electron cyclotron resonance plasma chemical vapour deposition have been investigated by analysing the film coverage on a trench. The profile of the film prepared from radicals produced in the gas phase was simulated by a Monte Carlo method using a sticking probability of 0.8 for Si, SiH and SiH 2 radicals and of 0.2 for SiH 3 radicals. A comparison between the experimental result and the simulation showed that the dominant radicals contributing to film growth are SiH x (x = 0-2). High-rate deposition of high-quality films in ECR plasma CVD demonstrates that the nature of the precursor species does not universally determine the film quality. Energetic particle bombardment permits high-quality films to be deposited despite the high reactivities of the precursor species.

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Characteristics of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Films Prepared by Electron Cyclotron Resonance Microwave Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition Method and Their Application to Photodiodes

Cited by 41 publications

References 13 publications

Film growth precursors in a remote SiH4 plasma used for high-rate deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Film growth precursors in a remote SiH4 plasma used for high-rate deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Characterization of atomic oxygen from an ECR plasma source

Dominant radicals in electron cyclotron resonance plasma CVD

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