Influence of Radio Frequency Power on the Structural Properties of nc-Si Films Fabricated by VHF-PECVD

Abstract

In recent years, hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) film has received much attention due to its potential application in various optoelectronic devices. In the present work, nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) films were fabricated from SiH4 diluted with H2 in very high frequency (40.68 MHz) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. The influence of radio frequency (rf) power on the structural properties of nanocrystalline silicon films has been studied. Raman spectra show that the crystallinity of the nc-Si films can be increased by promoting the rf power. But over high rf power leads to the structural deterioration of nc-Si:H film. AFM images manifest that, with the increase of deposition time, the grain size becomes larger accompanied by the decrease of the number density.