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Journal of Applied Physics / Volume 97 / Issue 3 / NANOSCALE SCIENCE AND DESIGN

J. Appl. Phys. 97, 034310 (2005); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1849435 (7 pages)

Experimental investigations into the formation of nanoparticles in a/nc-Si:H thin films

S. Thompson1, C. R. Perrey2, C. B. Carter2, T. J. Belich3, J. Kakalios3, and Uwe Kortshagen1

1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
2Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
3School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

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(Received 22 July 2004; accepted 18 November 2004; published online 18 January 2005)

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films with nanocrystalline silicon inclusions (a/nc-Si:H) have received considerable attention due to reports of electronic properties comparable to hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) coupled with an improved resistance to the light-induced formation of defects. In this study, a/nc-Si:H thin films are synthesized via radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition with helium and hydrogen diluted silane. The plasma conditions were chosen to simultaneously deposit both Si nanocrystallites and an amorphous silicon matrix. This structure has been confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies. Both plasma electronic diagnostics and TEM image analysis of a/nc-Si:H films deposited with and without a temperature gradient between the capacitively coupled reactor electrodes suggest nanoparticle formation in the plasma, as opposed to solid-state nucleation of the nanoparticles in the film. Optical-absorption studies of the a/nc-Si:H films indicate electrical properties comparable to a-Si:H. In particular, the evolution of the films’ photoconductivity over light exposure time shows a Staebler–Wronski effect similar to a-Si:H.

© 2005 American Institute of Physics

Article Outline

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
    1. Sample preparation
    2. Plasma characterization
    3. Materials characterization
  3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
  4. CONCLUSIONS

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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

silicon, hydrogen, elemental semiconductors, semiconductor thin films, nanostructured materials, amorphous semiconductors, nucleation, absorption coefficients, photoconductivity, Staebler-Wronski effect, transmission electron microscopy, plasma CVD, semiconductor growth, nanotechnology

PACS

  • 81.05.Cy

    Elemental semiconductors

  • 81.05.Gc

    Amorphous semiconductors

  • 81.07.Bc

    Nanocrystalline materials

  • 68.55.A-

    Nucleation and growth

  • 68.55.-a

    Thin film structure and morphology

  • 61.46.-w

    Structure of nanoscale materials

  • 68.55.Ln

    Defects and impurities: doping, implantation, distribution, concentration, etc.

  • 78.20.Ci

    Optical constants (including refractive index, complex dielectric constant, absorption, reflection and transmission coefficients, emissivity)

  • 73.50.Pz

    Photoconduction and photovoltaic effects

  • 61.43.Dq

    Amorphous semiconductors, metals, and alloys

  • 81.15.Gh

    Chemical vapor deposition (including plasma-enhanced CVD, MOCVD, ALD, etc.)

  • 68.37.Lp

    Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1849435

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0021-8979 (print)  
1089-7550 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Institute of Physics

For access to fully linked references, you need to log in.
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