Growth and Characterization of Polycrystalline Silicon and Microcrystalline Silicon Carbide Thin Films Using ECR-PECVD

Growth and Characterization of Polycrystalline Silicon and Microcrystalline Silicon Carbide Thin Films Using ECR-PECVD
Author: Bryan Kent Oliver
Publisher:
Total Pages: 138
Release: 1999
Genre:
ISBN:

On the other hand, with He dilution at 15 mTorr the percent crystallinity obtained was also 86%, with decreasing crystallinity at lower pressures. We found that a dilution consisting of a 50%-50% mixture of H2-He, which allows a high ion bombardment deposition from the helium that is also benefited by the hydrogen etching effect, did not compromise the quality of the films. This plasma selection produced about 84% crystalline films, independent of the pressure setting. X-ray diffraction reveals the dominant crystal textures are 111 and 220 orientations, with 220 preferential growth at higher deposition pressures. The CH4/SiH4 flow ratio was found critical to the formation of microcrystalline SiC.

The Growth of Microcrystalline Thin Films Using ECR-PECVD

The Growth of Microcrystalline Thin Films Using ECR-PECVD
Author: Yung Moo Huh
Publisher:
Total Pages: 72
Release: 2002
Genre:
ISBN:

A high rate growth method of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon, [Mu]c-Si:H, and silicon-germanium, [Mu]c-(Si, Ge):H, has been developed with very low hydrogen dilution ratio on foreign substrates, using a remote electron cyclotron resonance - plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (ECR-PECVD) process. In this work, the key variable was the hydrogen dilution, ratio of hydrogen to silane, [H2]/[SiH4], which ranged from 3.3 to 10, adding helium systematically. Phase transition from amorphous to microcrystalline states was observed as the amount of added helium was varied. It has been found that hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon films with more than 70 % of crystalline volume fraction were formed at high growth rates of 3.2 Å/sec at low substrate temperature below 300°C from the mixture of silane and hydrogen with a low hydrogen dilution ratio of as low as 3.3. The addition of helium did not increase the growth rate significantly, but it quickly served as disrupting microcrystalline formation. In addition, the substrate temperature-dependent phase transition was observed. The structural, electrical and optical properties, by Raman shift, x-ray diffraction, dark and photo conductivity, activation energy of dark conductivity, and photosensitivity measurements, were investigated to grow good quality [Mu]c-Si:H films at the low hydrogen dilution ratio with high growth rates. The prominent peaks at 520 cm−1 from Raman Shift spectroscopy, crystalline peaks from x-ray diffraction pattern, small photosensitivity, and low activation energy of dark conductivity due to grain boundaries in microcrystalline silicon thin films indicated the characteristic of crystalline materials.

Growth and Characterization of Microcrystalline Silicon Films and Devices Using Very High Frequency Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition

Growth and Characterization of Microcrystalline Silicon Films and Devices Using Very High Frequency Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition
Author: Joshua Ali Graves
Publisher:
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2003
Genre:
ISBN:

This thesis is a report of the work done to grow hydrogenated microcrystalline Si materials and p-n junction photovoltaic devices using a 45MHz (VHF) PECVD process. Several parameters such as hydrogen dilution during growth, pressure, growth temperature, and ion bombardment were systematically varied during the growth process to study their effects on crystallinity and device properties. Crystallinity of the films was studied using Raman and x-ray diffraction techniques. It was found that the typical grain size was in the range of 10-25 nm, with larger grain sizes being obtained at higher deposition temperatures. It was also found that as the deposition pressure increased, the crystalline fraction decreased. This behavior is attributed to the decrease of ion bombardment at higher pressures. Optical measurements revealed the films to have absorption characteristics similar to those of c-Si. p+/n/n+ devices were fabricated on stainless steel and semi-transparent Mo/tin oxide substrates. Capacitance spectroscopy was used to estimate total defect and dopant densities in the base layer material. Good quality devices with fill factors approaching [difference]65% and open-circuit voltages of [difference]0.45 V could be fabricated using this technique. Diffusion length of holes in this material was estimated using quantum efficiency vs. voltage techniques, and it was found to be in the range of 1.2 micrometers.

Amorphous Silicon Carbide Thin Films

Amorphous Silicon Carbide Thin Films
Author: Mariana Amorim Fraga
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Amorphous semiconductors
ISBN: 9781613247747

Silicon carbide (SiC) has been described as a suitable semiconductor material to use in MEMS and electronic devices for harsh environments. In recent years, many developments in SiC technology as bulk growth, materials processing, electronic devices and sensors have been shown. Moreover, some studies show the synthesis, characterisation and processing of crystalline SiC films. However, few works have investigated the potential of amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) thin films for sensors applications. This book presents fundamentals of amorphous silicon carbide thin films and their applications in piezoresistive sensors for high temperature applications.

Growth and Characterization of Micro-crystalline Silicon-germanium and Silicon-carbon Films

Growth and Characterization of Micro-crystalline Silicon-germanium and Silicon-carbon Films
Author: Karl Robert Erickson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 124
Release: 1998
Genre:
ISBN:

This thesis reports on the growth chemistry and appropriate process parameters that result in the formation of micro-crystalline silicon-germanium and silicon-carbon films. The growth technique uses an electron-cyclotron-resonance-chemical-vapor-deposition apparatus. This apparatus allows the process engineer to control such parameters as the plasma resonance plane, substrate temperature, microwave power, vacuum pressure, gas flow ratios, and gas combinations. The plasma gas is hydrogen and the precursor gases are silane and germane. The hydrogen ions and electrons in the plasma dissociate the precursor gases into radicals that give rise to film growth on the substrate. The substrate temperatures are kept below 300 C so that deposition on polyimide substrates can be performed.

Characterization of Polycrystalline Silicon Films Grown by LPCVD of Silane

Characterization of Polycrystalline Silicon Films Grown by LPCVD of Silane
Author: Justin Bradley Dorhout
Publisher:
Total Pages: 94
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN:

Deposition of polycrystalline silicon by thermolysis of silane, SiH4, is a common technique for creating polysilicon films for a variety of applications. The deposition temperature and pressure greatly influence parameters relating to growth rate and film quality. These characteristics include film crystallinity and resulting grain orientation that determine the optical and electrical properties of the films and their suitability for particular applications. An empirical approach was taken to characterize the growth process and resulting film quality. Polycrystalline silicon films were grown to map a region of temperatures and pressures in the range of 575°C to 700°C and 200 mTorr to 500 mTorr. Deposition rate increased with increasing pressure, and was a strong function of temperature, increasing quickly then diminishing due to silane depletion. The crystallinity of films increased with temperature and decreased with pressure, exhibiting regions of rapid transition between amorphous and crystalline phases. X-ray diffraction was used to determine grain orientation and size. The 220 grains showed preferential growth while 111 and 311 grains were completely inhibited at low temperatures. Band gap energy decreased with increasing temperature and crystallinity. Resistivity of as-deposited, intrinsic films was very high. However, planar source phosphorus diffusion and annealing reduced resistivity to as low as 2.5·10−3 [Omega]·m.