Glancing angle deposition for tuning electronic transport properties of Si thin films

We report on electronic transport properties of B-doped Si thin films 400 nm thick sputter-deposited by glancing angle deposition (GLAD). For each film, a fixed deposition angle & alpha; is used during the growth. A series of 9 films are prepared changing & alpha; from 0 degrees to 80 degrees with increments of 10 degrees. DC electrical resistivity, charge carrier mobility and concentration are systematically measured in the temperature range from 290 K to 410 K. For deposition angles higher than 40 degrees, a tilted columnar morphology appears and becomes more defined, especially for the most grazing angles. The highest deposition angles also lead to more resistive films with charge carrier mobility and concentration significantly changing for & alpha; > 30 degrees. Experimental results are discussed assuming the evolution of structural defects vs. deposition angle in the columnar architecture of Si GLAD films. & COPY; 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

We report on the electronic transport properties of B-doped Si thin films sputter-deposited by glancing angle deposition (GLAD) with a thickness of 400 nm. A series of 9 films were prepared with different deposition angles ranging from 0 degrees to 80 degrees. The results showed that films grown at higher deposition angles exhibited a tilted columnar morphology and higher resistivity, with significant changes in charge carrier mobility and concentration for angles greater than 30 degrees. The findings were discussed in terms of the evolution of structural defects in the columnar architecture of Si GLAD films. ©2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.