Microstructural information from optical properties of LPCVD silicon films annealed at low temperature

Influences of deposition and crystallization kinetics on the properties of silicon films deposited by low-pressure chemical vapour deposition from silane and disilane

“…For the as-deposited silicon films, a refractive index transition from 4.0 to 3.7 is evidenced for a Vd/Vc value around 1. Since this transition no longer exists after a 15-hours crystallization anneal at 600°C, it should be related to the transition from amorphous silicon (na-Si = 4.00) and polycrystalline silicon (np-Si = 3.70) [14,17,26]. This was confirmed by studying the refractive index variations with the 600°C annealing duration for two amorphous silicon films deposited from silane SiH4…”

“…for the highest Vd/Vc ratios (Vd/Vc > 50), the silylene SiH2 pyrolysis is responsible for high hydrogen contents into the deposited amorphous silicon films [14][15][16]. Thus, as-deposited, dehydrogenated (thanks to a 15-minutes anneal at 600°C), and annealed (thanks to a 15-hours crystallization anneal at 600°C) samples were studied (figure 7).…”

“…The investigations have mainly concerned the silane SiH4 gaseous source [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. They evidenced that the deposition temperature T, the SiH4 partial pressure P and/or the deposition rate Vd were the main parameters for understanding the silicon films properties: cristallinity, microstructure, roughness, residual stress,… In parallel, the disilane Si2H6 gaseous source was also studied [18][19][20][21].…”

Controlled growth of high-quality poly-silicon thin films with huge grains on glass substrates using an excimer laser

“…They have been shown to have high densities of daggling bonds and voids in the materials [5]. Microcrystalline silicon films from chemical vapor deposition (CVD) onto glass substrates reveal high defect densities and small grains [6][7][8] although amorphous silicon films from the technique represent the leading electronic materials for large-area display panel applications [9]. Moreover, a great deal of effort is necessary before liquid phase epitaxy becomes feasible for device processing despite the good quality of the poly-silicon films grown using the technique [10].…”