The atomic hydrogen flux to silicon growth flux ratio during microcrystalline silicon solar cell deposition

Dingemans, G Gijs; Donker, van den Mn Menno; Hrunski, D.; Gordijn, A.; Kessels, Wmm Erwin; Sanden, van de Mcm Richard

doi:10.1063/1.2987519

Cited by 38 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(30 reference statements)

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“…58 Hence, the increased H* emission suggests an increasing H flux at high bias voltages. It is unclear whether this increased H density is due to a different plasma chemistry (e.g., a competition between H abstraction of SiH 4 producing H 2 (R3, Since the atomic H-to-Si deposition flux is recognized as the key parameter describing the phase transition toward lcSi:H films growth, [11][12][13] it is important to consider the implications of a possible increase in H flux under ERFSB conditions. The ion-bombardment assisted desorption process can change the hydride groups present at the surface, thereby (Table I).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, the films are prone to postdeposition oxidation. It has been investigated if preferential etching of the a-Si:H tissue by atomic hydrogen, which is abundant in the (expanding thermal) plasma and a) Electronic mail: a.c.bronneberg@tue.nl b) Electronic mail: m.creatore@tue.nl recognized as the main parameter to promote lc-Si:H film growth, [11][12][13] was responsible. However, our study pointed out that at high growth rates (>1 nm/s) H-induced etching could not compete with film deposition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ion-induced effects on grain boundaries and a-Si:H tissue quality in microcrystalline silicon films

Bronneberg

Cankoy

Sanden

et al. 2012

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

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Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of Record (includes final page, issue and volume numbers) Please check the document version of this publication:• A submitted manuscript is the author's version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Microcrystalline silicon films have been deposited by means of the remote expanding thermal plasma. The effect of ion bombardment on the microcrystalline silicon film properties has been investigated by applying an RF bias to the deposition substrate. The application of the RF substrate bias resulted in the formation of an additional plasma in front of the substrate holder. Neither the SiH 4 depletion nor the growth flux was significantly enhanced upon substrate biasing, which suggests that (the composition of) the growth precursor flux is unaffected and that the ion-film interaction mechanisms were responsible for the observed material changes. Moderate bias conditions (i.e., dc bias voltages up to $70 V) led to an improved grain boundary passivation and densification of the amorphous silicon tissue, as concluded from the analysis of the infrared Si-H x stretching modes. These improvements have been ascribed to ion-induced Si surface atom displacement, which enhances the surface diffusion length of the growth precursors. More-energetic ion bombardment (i.e., under applied dc bias voltages of $60 V and higher) resulted in enhanced (di)vacancy incorporation via ion-induced Si bulk atom displacement. The film crystallinity was found not to be affected by the ion bombardment, although a reduced crystallite size was observed under ion bombardment conditions where Si bulk displacement had been sufficiently activated. The extent of the ion-film interaction mechanism has been enhanced...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ion-induced effects on grain boundaries and a-Si:H tissue quality in microcrystalline silicon films

Bronneberg

Cankoy

Sanden

et al. 2012

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

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“…Hydrogenation is used to help mobile hydrogen complete the process of crystallization of amorphous J.H. Lyou ( ) College of Science and Technology, Korea University, Chungnam 339-700, South Korea e-mail: jhlyou@korea.ac.kr Fax: +82- Si networks, where the hydrogen increases grain boundary passivation through either the relaxation of strained SiSi bonds or the termination of dangling bonds [7,8]. On the other hand, laser annealing provides a high-or lowtemperature heating process, depending upon the film temperature irradiated by the laser, which ultimately induces melting or softening of amorphous Si networks, or often promotes interface-mediated solid-phase migration in metal/aSi systems [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro-Raman scattering and TEM measurements of crystallization in amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon

Lyou

2012

Appl. Phys. A

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In this report, we study crystallization and Raman spectral and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) changes in amorphous and nanocrystalline Si. Micro-Raman spectra combined with TEM show that considerable crystallization occurs in a-Si:H and a-Si(Al) (the structure of aluminum-diffused amorphous Si/Al/c-Si), but no additional crystallization was observed for nc-Si:H, after the exposure to a laser or accelerating electrons. Meanwhile, moving toward lower or higher energy for a-Si:H and nc-Si:H, by contrast, the Raman shift appeared for a-Si(Al) as if it were for single-crystalline Si, in which it remained constant at one energy, as the laser intensity increased or decreased.

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“…During growth, hydrogen is required to minimize the dangling bond defect density and is known to induce disorder-to-order structural transitions in the material [3][4][5][6][7]. In the SW effect, redistributions of small amounts of hydrogen liberated by photons into meta-stable configurations are commonly attributed as the source of electronic degradation [8][9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic hydrogen induced defect kinetics in amorphous silicon

Peeters

Zheng

Aarts

et al. 2017

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

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Abstract:Near-IR Evanescent-Wave Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (EW-CRDS) has been applied to study the defect evolution in an a-Si:H thin film subjected to a directed beam of atomic H with a flux of (0.4-2) x 10 14 cm -2 s -1 . To this end a 42 ± 2 nm a-Si:H film was grown on the Total Internal Reflection (TIR) surface of a folded miniature optical resonator by Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition (HW-CVD). A fully reversible defect creation process is observed, with a non-linear dependence on H flux, with a time resolution of 33 ms and a relative sensitivity of 10 -7 . Through the use of polarizing optics the CRDS signal was split into s-and p-polarized components, which, combined with E-2 field calculations, provides depth sensitivity. Extensive kinetic modeling of the observed process is used to determine rate constants for the hydrogen-material interactions and defect formation in a-Si:H, as well as revealing a high diffusion coefficient for atomic H on the order of 10 -11 cm 2 s -1 . A novel reaction pathway is proposed whereby H inserted into weak Si-Si bonds recombines with mobile H, resulting in a limited penetration depth for atomic H from the gas-phase on the order of 10 -15 nm.3

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The atomic hydrogen flux to silicon growth flux ratio during microcrystalline silicon solar cell deposition

Cited by 38 publications

References 21 publications

Ion-induced effects on grain boundaries and a-Si:H tissue quality in microcrystalline silicon films

Ion-induced effects on grain boundaries and a-Si:H tissue quality in microcrystalline silicon films

Micro-Raman scattering and TEM measurements of crystallization in amorphous and nanocrystalline silicon

Atomic hydrogen induced defect kinetics in amorphous silicon

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