Nucleation and Growth Mechanism of Si Amorphous Film Deposited by PIAD

Abstract

The nanoscale Si films with the thickness of 2 nm, 5 nm, 10 nm, and 20 nm were deposited by plasma ion assisted deposition (PIAD) on glass substrate, in order to investigate the initial stage and the nucleation and growth mechanism of the Si film. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to investigate the surface topography of the as-deposited Si film. The initial nucleation and growth process of the film was described. The continuous film had been already formed when the film thickness was 10 nm. The growth of the deposited Si film accorded with the Volmer-Weber growth mode.