Crystallization of amorphous Si films for thin film solar cells

Silver-induced layer exchange for the low-temperature preparation of intrinsic polycrystalline silicon films

“…The best fit is shown in Fig. 14 The slight shift in the main peak to lower wave numbers in com-parison to single crystalline Si ͑520.0 cm −1 ͒ and the weak asymmetric broadening can be explained by biaxial stress in the silicon layer due to different thermal expansion coefficients of the quartz substrate and Si. For two-dimensional growth, as it is the case here, this corresponds to a crystallization process in which grain growth occurs parallel to nucleation and the early nucleation rate increases, in this case from 15 to 100 mm −2 min −1 during the beginning of grain growth.…”

Nucleation and Growth Mechanism of Si Amorphous Film Deposited by PIAD

“…The amorphous silicon (a-Si) film was deposited as surface-modification film on the SiC ceramic matrix which was applied in advanced optical systems, in order to modify the microstructure defects or pores on the substrate surface and provide an alternative surface which would make the polishing process more easily [2,3]. Besides, the a-Si film was the precursor of the crystalline Si film which was widely used in photovoltaic industry and extensive investigations on the technique and mechanism of the crystallization were carried out [4,5].…”

“…The a-Si has been reported to be deposited by typical physical vapor deposition (PVD), hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) [6], plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) [4], magnetron sputtering deposition [7], ultrahigh vacuum ion beam sputtering (UHV IBS) [8], and so on.…”