Fast deposition of microcrystalline silicon using high-density SiH4 microwave plasma

A novel microwave discharge utilizing a spokewise antenna was applied for the fast deposition of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si:H) film from SIH4 and Ar without the Hz dilution method. Systematic deposition studies were employed with total pressure, H-2 dilution ratio and now rate of SIH4, Fr[SiH4], as variables, combined with optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and Langmuir probe characterizations. It was found that the deposition rate exhibits a maximum at 40-50 mTorr at the axial distance of 10cm from the quartz glass plate and the film crystallinity strongly depend on the: total pressure. Correlation among OES signal intensity, SiH, the intensity ratio, I-H alpha/I-Si*, deposition rare and film crystallinity were demonstrated. By combining the SiH4 depletion and lower pressure conditions, a high deposition rate of 40 Angstrom/s was achieved in mu c-Si:H growth with high crystallinity and photosensitivity from SiH4 and Ar plasma.