Hydrogen-plasma-induced Rapid, Low-Temperature Crystallization of μm-thick a-Si:H Films.
Being a low-cost, mass-production-compatible route to attain crystalline silicon, post-deposition crystallization of amorphous silicon has received intensive research interest. Here we report a low-temperature (300 °C), rapid (crystallization rate of ~17 nm/min) means of a-Si:H crystallization based on high-density hydrogen plasma. A model integrating the three processes of hydrogen insertion, etching, and diffusion, which jointly determined the hydrogenation depth of the excess hydrogen into the treated micrometer thick a-Si:H, is proposed to elucidate the hydrogenation depth evolution and the crystallization mechanism. The effective temperature deduced from the hydrogen diffusion coefficient is far beyond the substrate temperature of 300 °C, which implies additional driving forces for crystallization, i.e., the chemical annealing/plasma heating and the high plasma sheath electric field. The features of LFICP (low-frequency inductively coupled plasma) and LFICP-grown a-Si:H are also briefly discussed to reveal the underlying mechanism of rapid crystallization at low temperatures.
School of Energy Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 2006 Xiyuan Ave, West High-Tech Zone, Chengdu, 611731, China.|Plasma Sources and Application Center, NIE, and Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 637616, Singapore.
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HP
Zhou
Key Laboratory of Information Materials of Sichuan Province &School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu 610041, China.
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Xu
Plasma Sources and Application Center, NIE, and Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 637616, Singapore.
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Xu
Institute of Microstructure and Properties of Advanced Materials, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China.
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Liu
Institute of Microstructure and Properties of Advanced Materials, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China.
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Liu
Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
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LC
Kwek
Plasma Sources and Application Center, NIE, and Institute of Advanced Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 637616, Singapore.
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Xu