Open AccessStudy on growth mechanism of low-temperature prepared microcrystalline Si thin f ilms
Author(s) -
Jiande Gu,
Yuqin Zhou,
Min Zhu,
Guohua Li,
Kan Ding,
Bingqing Zhou,
Fengzhen Liu,
Jinlong Liu,
Qunfang Zhou
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
wuli xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 1000-3290
DOI - 10.7498/aps.54.1890
Subject(s) - materials science , microcrystalline silicon , substrate (aquarium) , microcrystalline , deposition (geology) , thin film , silicon , raman spectroscopy , diffusion , chemical vapor deposition , island growth , analytical chemistry (journal) , composite material , optics , nanotechnology , crystallography , layer (electronics) , epitaxy , optoelectronics , amorphous silicon , crystalline silicon , chemistry , thermodynamics , oceanography , biology , paleontology , chromatography , physics , sediment , geology
Microcrystalline silicon thin films at different growth stages were prepared by hot wire chemical vapor deposition. Atomic force microscopy has been applied to investigate the evolution of surface topography of these films. According to the fractal analysis, it was found that, the growth of Si film deposited on glass substrate is the zero_diffused stochastic deposition; while for the film on Si substrate, it is the finite diffused deposition on the initial growth stage, and transforms to the zero_diffused stochastic deposition when the film thickness reaches a certain value. The film thickness dependence of island density shows that a maximum of island density appears at the critical film thickness for both substrates. The data of Raman spectra approve that, on the glass substrate, the a_Si:H/μc_Si:H transition is related to the critical film thickness. Different substrate materials directly affect the surface diffusion ability of radicals, resu lting in the difference of growth modes on the earlier growth stage.