Surface Condition in the Plasma-CVD of a-Si:H,F from SiF4 and H2

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe present a detailed study of the growth of a-Si:H,F from SiF4 and H4. The growth surface appears to have a high density of surface states. These surface states can be thermally relaxed by keeping the films at growth temperature after the termination of growth, suggesting that the states were created during film growth. When frozen in, the surface state density is found to depend on the conditions during film growth. The density is related to the sharpness of the valence band tail as measured by the Urbach Energy. We believe that a reaction on the growth surface resulting in fluorine elimination creates these surface states and also affects the formation of the Si-network.