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...