A novel approach for the growth of Rc-Si at a high rate over 3 nm/s

High-rate growth of microcrystalline-silicon (muc-Si) using very-high-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition in combination with a kind of triode method was investigated. In this method, a mesh electrode is placed near substrates, and discharge spots are generated on the mesh and moving around. It was found that the moving spots are generated under limited conditions of deposition pressure and flow rates of silane and hydrogen, and they are required to obtain high-rate and high-quality materials. Under such conditions, optical emission of Si* significantly increases near the mesh and it increases more by increasing hydrogen-dilution-ratio. It is assumed that the spots are generated by hollow-cathode-like discharges in the cavities of charged mesh, and such discharge promotes the decomposition of silane to realize high-rate growth of muc-Si. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.