Plasma polymerized methylsilane I: Characterization of thin photosensitive films for advanced lithography applications

Applied Physics Letters

Huang

et al. 2011

We investigate the performance of a single-junction amorphous Si (a-Si) solar cell fabricated with inductively coupled plasma (ICP) deposition technique. The high-density plasma resulting from high dissociation capacity of ICP enables good-quality hydrogenated Si films to be synthesized at low temperatures. High-density ICP also promotes the diffusion of reactive radicals on substrates and forms a-Si:H films with low defect density (∼3 × 1015 cm−3). We demonstrate single-junction a-Si solar cells with a conversion efficiency of 9.6% and improved light-soaking stability. This low thermal-budget thin-film technique could open up the feasibility of efficient thin film solar cells on flexible substrates.

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Inductively coupled plasma grown semiconductor films for low cost solar cells with improved light-soaking stability

Shen

Applied Physics Letters

Huang

et al. 2011

“…Moreover, for a diamond-like SiC film, a little hydrogen remains ͑or fewer microvoids remain͒ in the films, resulting in denser films with higher dielectric constants, whereas an increase in C content introduces a more polymer-like porous structure in the SiC films with lower dielectric constants. 14 Referring to the deposition mechanism of amorphous SiC 15 and Si (a-Si) 16 films, the hydrogen content of the films decreases as the process temperature increases owing to the formation of a denser network by a high surface mobility of reactive species 15 and a lower deposition rate facilitating hydrogen outgassing. 16 Those phenomena can explain the process temperature dependence of the Si/C ratio and the dielectric constant of the SiC films.…”

Section: Low Hydrogen Content In Trimethylsilane-based Dielectric Barmentioning

confidence: 98%

Low hydrogen content in trimethylsilane-based dielectric barriers deposited by inductively coupled plasma

Applied Physics Letters

Tsai

Dai

2002

Dielectric barriers of trimethylsilane-based hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiCx:H) for damascene metalization were synthesized by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) chemical vapor deposition methods. The high ionization efficiency from ICP, resulting in a-SiCx:H films that contain only a little hydrogen, is explored as a major mechanism that yields such a film not only with a high breakdown field of 3.7 MV/cm and a low leakage current <6.0×10−10 A/cm2 (at 1.0 MV/cm), but also with a low stress (−5 MPa) and high hardness (11 GPa). Additionally, the dielectric constant of the a-SiCx:H films is maintained below 4.2.

“…In the case considered herein, the deposition parameters are substrate temperature ϳ25°C and hydrogen dilution ratio ϳ24. According to the deposition mechanism of silicon carbide 15 and formation kinetics of microcrystalline siliocn, 7 the hydrogen content in the films decreases ͑crystallinity is enhanced͒ owing to a high surface mobility of reactive species. Increasing the radio-frequency ͑rf͒ power not only leads to high dissociation capacity of the precursors but also causes a high electron temperature ͑or high surface mobility͒ to the reactive species.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis of Microcrystalline Silicon at Room Temperature Using ICP

Electrochem. Solid-State Lett.

Dai

et al. 2004

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ͑c-Si:H͒ channel layers were synthesized at a temperature below 100°C by inductively coupled plasma ͑ICP͒ methods. High ionization efficiency and low ion bombardment from the ICP, enabled the use of high ICP power and, thus, extremely dense plasma or markedly increased electron temperature, promoting the diffusion capability of the reactive radicals that eventually yield ICP c-Si:H films with large grains of several tens of nanometers, a high deposition rate of 5 Å/s, and a smooth roughness of ϳ1 nm. Accordingly, the epitaxial growth of c-Si:H films at room temperature is demonstrated.Low-temperature polycrystalline silicon ͑LTPS͒ thin-film transistors ͑TFTs͒ are attracting increasing attention because they have potential applications as switching devices and peripheral driving circuits in the active matrix liquid crystal display ͑AMLCD͒. 1 Low-thermal-budget methods, such as laser annealing crystallization, metal-induced crystallization, or mixtures of these processes are often employed to crystallize the channel regions of those LTPS-TFTs. 2 Recently, low-temperature ͑below 200°C͒ polycrystalline ͑or microcrystalline͒ TFTs, 3-5 the channel layers in which are deposited by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition ͑CVD͒ 3,4 without extra crystallization treatments, has motivated more applications of LTPS TFTs, such as lightweight flat panel displays. 6 Surface diffusion 7 and selective etching models 8 ͑hydrogen-induced crystallization͒ explain the synthesis of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ͑c-Si:H simplified as c-Si hereinafter͒ and predict high hydrogen concentrations ͑high defect density͒ in c-Si films deposited at low temperatures, degrading electrical performance 9 in the resultant devices that integrate such films.Furthermore, inductively coupled plasma ͑ICP͒ CVD dielectrics 10,11 outperform those formed by other methods in device applications 10 and intermetal dielectrics ͑IMD͒, 11 because ICP has a high fractional ionization capacity. The high dissociation capacity of ICP produces high-density plasma and a high electron temperature, but low ion bombardment, allowing the synthesis of high-quality dielectrics at low temperatures, assisted by high plasma power. This study reports the synthesis of ICPCVD c-Si films with excellent channel layer characteristics with large grains, a high deposition rate, and low roughness and explores these fundamental characteristics. The synthesis of c-Si films at room temperature is obtained.c-Si films were deposited on an ICPCVD SiO 2 ͑500 nm͒ 11 -covered 6 in. p ϩ Si͑100͒ wafer in an ICPCVD system using silane (SiH 4 ) gas diluted in H 2 gas at a flow rate of 5 sccm, at a chamber pressure of 20 mTorr. Before c-Si deposition, few dangling bonds and weak bonds on surfaces of hydrogen-terminated oxidation substrates were obtained by dipping them in HF solution, facilitating the subsequent growth of c-Si. 12 X-ray diffraction ͑XRD͒, scanning electron microscopy ͑SEM͒, and transmission electron microscopy ͑TEM͒ were used to characte...