Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 33 (1994) pp. 5663-5667  |Next Article|  |Table of Contents|
|Full Text PDF (951K)| |Buy This Article|

The Effect of Mesh Bias and Substrate Bias on the Properties of a-Si:H Deposited by Triode Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition

Ian S. Osborne, Nobuhiro Hata, Gautam Ganguly and Akihisa Matsuda

(Received June 3, 1994; accepted for publication August 20, 1994)

A new deposition parameter in the plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) technique for the control of the optoelectronic properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) is presented. The technique utilises a triode electrode configuration with a wire mesh placed between the cathode and anode of a conventional diode type PECVD system. A dc bias, applied to the mesh, affects the plasma-substrate distance or the extent of plasma confinement between the mesh and the cathode, and subtly alters the gas phase chemistry in the plasma. Using this technique, films of undoped a-Si:H have been deposited with pure silane as the source gas. Our results show that the defect density, hydrogen content, and hydrogen bonding configuration are determined by the mesh bias. Measurement of the defect density of the as-grown films by the constant photocurrent method (CPM) reveals that this technique can be used to produce high quaility films with low defect density (<5× 10¹⁴ cm^-3) by application of an appropriate bias on the mesh during deposition.

URL: http://jjap.jsap.jp/link?JJAP/33/5663/
DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.33.5663

References | Citing Articles (4)

1. W. E. Spear and P. G. LeComber: Solid State Commun. 17 (1975) 1193[CrossRef].
   
2. A. J. Snell, K. D. MacKenzie, W. E. Spear, P. G. LeComber and A. J. Hughes: Appl. Phys. 24 (1981) 357.
   
3. H. C. Taun: Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 70 (1986) 651.
   
4. M. Brodsky: Thin Solid Films 50 (1978) 57.
   
5. D. E. Carlson and C. R. Wronski: Appl. Phys. Lett. 28 (1976) 671[AIP Scitation].
   
6. A. Matsuda and K. Tanaka: J. Non-Cryst. Solids 97&98 (1987) 1367.
   
7. J.-L. Guizot, K. Nomoto and A. Matsuda: Surf. Sci. 244 (1991) 22[CrossRef].
   
8. R. A. Street: Phys. Rev. B 44 (1991) 10610[APS].
   
9. D. L. Staebler and C. R. Wronski: Appl. Phys. Lett. 31 (1977) 292[AIP Scitation].
   
10. S. Guha, J. Yang, A. Banerjee, T. Glatfelter, K. Hoffman, S. R. Ovshinsky, M. Izu, H. C. Ovshinsky and X. Deng: to be published in Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. (1994).
    
11. H. Shirai, B. Drevillon, N. Layadi and P. Roca i Cabarrocas: J. Non-Cryst. Solids 164-166 (1993) 119.
    
12. G. Ganguly and A. Matsuda: Phys. Rev. B 47 (1993) 3661[APS].
    
13. E. Bhattacharya and A. H. Mahan: Appl. Phys. Lett. 52 (1988) 1587[AIP Scitation].
    
14. A. H. Mahan, D. L. Williamson, B. P. Nelson and R. S. Crandall: Sol. Cells 27 (1989) 465.
    
15. A. A. Howling, J-L. Dorier and Ch. Hollenstein: Appl. Phys. Lett. 62 (1993) 1341[AIP Scitation].
    
16. A. Matsuda, K. Nakagawa, K. Tanaka, M. Matsumura, S. Yamasaki, H. Okushi and S. Iizima: J. Non-Cryst. Solids 35&36 (1980) 183.
    
17. N. M. Johnson, J. Walker and K. S. Stevens: J. Appl. Phys. 69 (1991) 2631[AIP Scitation].
    
18. A. H. Mahan, J. Carapella, B. P. Nelson, R. S. Crandall and I. Balberg: J. Appl. Phys. 69 (1991) 6728[AIP Scitation].
    
19. T. Shirafuji, M. Yoshimoto, T. Fuyuki and H. Matsunami: Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 30 (1991) L538[JSAP].
    
20. J. C. Knights, R. A. Lujan, M. P. Rosenblum, R. A. Street, D. K. Biegelsen and J. A. Reimer: Appl. Phys. Lett. 38 (1980) 331[AIP Scitation].
    
21. M. Azuma, T. Yokoi, I. Shiiya and I. Shimizu: J. Non-Cryst. Solids 164-166 (1993) 47[CrossRef].
    
22. A. Matsuda and K. Tanaka: J. Appl. Phys. 60 (1986) 2351[AIP Scitation].
    
23. Z. E. Smith, V. Chu, K. Shepard, S. Aljisha, D. Slobodin, J. Kolodzey, S. Wagner and T. L. Chu: Appl. Phys. Lett. 50 (1987) 1521[AIP Scitation].
    
24. I. S. Osborne, N. Hata and A. Matsuda: presented at Japan Soc. Applied Physics, 41st Spring Meeting, 29p-ZA-12, 1994 (unpublished).
    
25. Y. Hishikawa, M. Sasaki, S. Tsuge, S. Okamoto and S. Tsuda: Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 297 (1993) 779.
    
26. A. Matsuda and K. Tanaka: Thin Solid Films 92 (1982) 171[CrossRef].
    
27. T. Kamei, G. Ganguly, N. Hata and A. Matsuda: J. Non-Cryst. Solids 164-166 (1993) 43.
    
28. D. A. Doughty, J. R. Doyle, G. H. Lin and A. Gallagher: J. Appl. Phys. 67 (1990) 6220[AIP Scitation].
    
29. J. Perrin and T. Broekhuizen: Appl. Phys. Lett. 50 (1987) 433[AIP Scitation].
    
30. Y. Chida, M. Kondo, G. Ganguly and A. Matsuda: to be published in Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. (1994).