Structural evolution in amorphous silicon and germanium thin films.
The structural evolution in amorphous silicon and germanium thin films has been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in conjunction with autocorrelation function (ACF) analysis. The results established that the structure of as-deposited semiconductor films is of a high density of nanocrystallites embedded in the amorphous matrix. In addition, from ACF analysis, the structure of a-Ge is more ordered than that of a-Si. The density of embedded nanocrystallites in amorphous films was found to diminish with annealing temperature first, then to increase. The conclusions also corroborate well with the results of diminished medium-range order in annealed amorphous films determined previously by a variable coherence microscopy method.
Chen
L J
LJ
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Cheng
S L
SL
Yu
C H
CH
Su
P Y
PY
Lin
H H
HH
Chi
K S
KS
D000497:Alloys / Q000737:chemistry*; D005857:Germanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000295:instrumentation; D012666:Semiconductors; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
D000497:Alloys; D005857:Germanium; D012825:Silicon