Large-grain poly-crystalline silicon thin films prepared by aluminum-induced crystallization of sputter-deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Hossain, Maruf; Meyer, Harry M.; Abu-Safe, Husam H.; Naseem, Hameed A.; Brown, W. D.

doi:10.1557/jmr.2006.0091

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…From the appearance of typical Raman peak, Qi et al [24] reported that, in the presence of Al, an a-Si film started crystallizing at an annealing temperature of 250 C. In this case, these samples were annealed under an argon atmosphere for 3 h. In contrast to the above two studies, all our samples were annealed in vacuo. Hossain et al [25] reported that Philosophical Magazine 4085 AIC-processed glass/Al/a-Si:H samples annealed in vacuo did not show crystallisation below 500 C. So, a remarkable fact in our work is that a volume fraction as high as 92% was achieved by annealing at only 300 C for 1 h.…”

Section: Philosophical Magazine 4083mentioning

confidence: 54%

Polycrystalline silicon films prepared by metal-induced crystallisation using pre- and post-deposited aluminium on amorphous silicon

Adhikary

Ray

2012

Philosophical Magazine

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We report on the successful fabrication of polycrystalline silicon films by aluminium-induced crystallisation (AIC) of Radio frequency (rf) plasmaenhanced chemical vapour deposited (PECVD) a-Si films. The effects of annealing at different temperatures (300 and 400 C), below the eutectic temperature of the Si-Al binary system, on the crystallisation process have been studied. This work emphasises the important role of the position of the Al layer with respect to the Si layer on the crystallisation process. The properties of the crystallised films were characterised using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, ellipsometry, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). With an increase in the annealing temperature, it was found that the degree of crystallisation of annealed a-Si/Al and Al/a-Si films increased. The results showed that the arrangement where the Al was on top of the a-Si had a more prominent effect on crystallisation enhancement than when Al was below the a-Si. The interfacial layer between the Al and a-Si film is crucial because it influences the layer-exchange process during annealing. The oxide layer formed between the Al and the a-Si layers greatly retards the crystallisation process in the case of the Al/Si arrangement. Our investigations suggest that polycrystalline Si films formed by AIC can be used as a seed layer in solar cell fabrication.

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Section: Philosophical Magazine 4083mentioning

confidence: 54%

Polycrystalline silicon films prepared by metal-induced crystallisation using pre- and post-deposited aluminium on amorphous silicon

Adhikary

Ray

2012

Philosophical Magazine

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“…Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) film is a promising material for solar cell application because its carrier mobility is 10 to 100 times larger than that of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) film [1]. Three methods are currently used for manufacturing poly-Si film on glass: catalytic chemical vapor deposition [2], excimer laser annealing (ELA) [3], and metal-induced crystallization (MIC) [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) induces the crystallization of a-Si below the eutectic temperature (577 ∘ C) of Al and Si.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, commonly studied poly-Si films often have a thickness of below 500 nm [6][7][8][9][10], which is insufficient for the active layer of solar cells. For example, Hossain et al [9] fabricated poly-Si films with a lateral grain size of up to 20 m, but the film thickness was as low as 300 nm. Subramanian et al [10] fabricated a poly-Si film via two-step solid-phase crystallization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of Large-Grain Thick Polycrystalline Silicon Thin Films via Aluminum-Induced Crystallization for Application in Solar Cells

Chu

Weng

Chen

2013

International Journal of Photoenergy

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The fabrication of large-grain 1.25 μm thick polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films via two-stage aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) for application in thin-film solar cells is reported. The induced 250 nm thick poly-Si film in the first stage is used as the seed layer for the crystallization of a 1 μm thick amorphous silicon (a-Si) film in the second stage. The annealing temperatures in the two stages are both 500°C. The effect of annealing time (15, 30, 60, and 120 minutes) in the second stage on the crystallization of a-Si film is investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. XRD and Raman results confirm that the induced poly-Si films are induced by the proposed process.

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“…The effects caused by MIC of a-Si are widely studied and experimental knowledge has been accumulated [1][2][3][4]. So MIC method has recently been attracting much attention for their potential to make low cost and highly stable thin film solar cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many reports discuss a bilayer of a-Si and metal films, such as a-Si/metal/substrate structures and metal/a Si/substrate structures [4,[9][10][11]. According to Pereira et.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metal induced crystallization of amorphous silicon using layer-by-layer technique with gold ultra thin layer

Aono

Takiguchi

Endo

et al. 2010

2010 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

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Multilayered films composed of amorphous silicon (a-Si) layer and ultra thin gold layer were prepared for getting polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) with high crystallization in a short time by metal induced crystallization (MIC) method. Deposition method of the multilayered films was a combination of ion beam evaporation and layer-by-Iayer technique. We prepared samples with different Au layer thickness of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 nm, respectively. The number of a-Si/Au cycle was 50. The samples were annealed at 473, 673, and 873 K for crystallization of a-Si layer. Crystal structure of the films was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Electrical properties were discussed from the resistivity depending on the annealing temperatures. Optical absorbance was measured by UV visible transmittance spectroscopy. The crystallization of a-Si occurred at low annealing temperature in thicker Au layer films. However, the crystalline volume fraction of a-Si reached to the maximum value when the annealing temperature was 673 K and the Au layer thickness was 0.4 nm. Metallic conductivity was shown in the annealed film of 0.8 nm Au layer thickness. In addition, we found that Au atoms formed nanoparticles in the films by thermal annealing, and a typical peak of surface plasmon by Au nanoparticles observed in the optical absorption spectra.

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Large-grain poly-crystalline silicon thin films prepared by aluminum-induced crystallization of sputter-deposited hydrogenated amorphous silicon

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

Polycrystalline silicon films prepared by metal-induced crystallisation using pre- and post-deposited aluminium on amorphous silicon

Polycrystalline silicon films prepared by metal-induced crystallisation using pre- and post-deposited aluminium on amorphous silicon

Fabrication of Large-Grain Thick Polycrystalline Silicon Thin Films via Aluminum-Induced Crystallization for Application in Solar Cells

Metal induced crystallization of amorphous silicon using layer-by-layer technique with gold ultra thin layer

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