Hydrogen Dilution Effect on the Crystallinity of Silicon Films Grow by Hot Wire Cell Method

Abstract

AbstractA new process, the Hot Wire Cell method, was developed and successfully used to grow polycrystalline silicon thin films at a low temperature and high growth rate. In the Hot Wire Cell method, reactant gases are decomposed as a result of reacting with a heated tungsten filament placed near to a substrate and polycrystalline silicon films can be deposited at a growth rate of 1.2nm/s without hydrogen dilution and 0.9nm/s with the use hydrogen dilution. The film crystallinity changed from amorphous to polycrystalline due to the addition of hydrogen, thus hydrogen dilution was effective for improving film crystallinity. Furthermore, we obtained (220) oriented polycrystalline silicon thin films with a 90% crystal fraction by the use of hydrogen dilution. These results showed that the Hot Wire Cell method is promising for the deposition of device-grade polycrystalline silicon films for photovoltaic applications.