THE SIZE CONTROL OF UNIFORM NANOCRYSTALLINE Si GRAINS BY CONSTRAINED GROWTH MODEL

Abstract

Size-controlled nanocrystalline silicon ( nc - Si ) has been prepared from a - SiN x / a - Si:H/a - SiN x ( 'a' standing for amorphous) sandwich structures by thermal annealing. Transmission electron microscope analyses show that the mean size and the grain size distribution (GSD) of the nc - Si are controlled by the annealing conditions and the a - Si sublayer thickness. Based on our theoretical model of constrained crystallization, we interpret the phenomena of the growth halt of nc - Si and higher crystallization temperature for the thinner a - Si sublayers. The experimental results show that constrained crystallization method is promising to achieve uniform and high density nc - Si array which can be used in the future nano-devices.