A Grid Reactor with Low Ion Bombardment Energy for Large Area PECVD of Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells

Chesaux, Michael

doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-5686

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…A voltage probe on the rf electrode was used to measure the rf voltage amplitude V rf and dc self-bias voltage V sb . The ion velocity distribution at the bottom grounded surface was measured by a retarding field energy analyzer (RFEA) [7][8][9][10]. Its schematic and the trajectories of the charged particles inside it are shown in figure 2.…”

Section: Experimental Arrangementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The time evolution during the rf cycle was measured using phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy (PROES) [9][10][11] as shown in figure 3. This diagnostic used a fast, gated CCD camera (PI-MAX, Princeton Instruments) with 2 ns resolution to sequence the 13.56 MHz rf cycle into 37 images as shown in [10]. The time evolution of the plasma emission was observed by measuring vertical profiles of light emission at different phases of the rf cycle.…”

Section: Experimental Arrangementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Funnelling of rf current via a plasmoid through a grid hole in an rf capacitive plasma reactor

Chesaux¹,

Howling²,

Hollenstein

2013

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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The boundaries of capacitively coupled radio-frequency (rf) plasma reactors generally include at least one grounded metal grid or perforated plate for purposes of gas flow or diagnostic access. When increasing the rf power, an intense localized plasma (a plasmoid) can spontaneously ignite in a hole of a grounded surface. Experiments described here show that the plasmoid funnels rf current through the hole to the other side of the grounded plate, thereby increasing the effective grounded area in contact with the plasma. Hence, plasmoid ignition is always accompanied by a drop in the dc self-bias voltage of the rf electrode.The small area of the plasmoid aperture means that the rf current density passing through the plasmoid is very high, causing intense optical emission and strong local heating. Plasmoid ignition can therefore cause a loss of process reproducibility and potentially lead to melting and eventual destruction of reactor components.

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Section: Experimental Arrangementmentioning

confidence: 99%