Microwave annealing effect on the resistivity of doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon on glass

Abstract

We employed a 5.8 GHz microwave annealing (MWA) to electrically activate the doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films on glass. As compared with traditional rapid thermal annealing (RTA), MWA can electrically activate better the doped a-Si films at low annealing temperature and short processing time and effectively reduce their resistivity. The longer annealing time for MWA is better.

Comparison of Characteristics of Rapid Thermal and Microwave Annealed Amorphous Silicon Thin Films Prepared by Electron Beam Evaporation and Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

“…Ion implanter was then applied, with BF 2 49+ and P 31+ ion sources, 10 keV implant energy and 1× 10 15 cm -2 dosage, for producing 400 nm thick undoped i layer and 50 nm thick p and n doped layer. The RTA was conducted under 1000 o C for 10s, while MWA with 5.8 GHz frequency was set at 4 powers for 600s (temperature was approximately 500 o C, 1 power was around 600 W [5]). These two annealing conditions were used to carry out material annealing experiments.…”