Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 49 (2010) 050202 (3 pages)  |Previous Article| |Next Article|  |Table of Contents|
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Enhanced Nucleation of Microcrystalline Silicon Thin Films Deposited by Inductively Coupled Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition with Low-Frequency Pulse Substrate Bias

Mamoru Furuta, Takahiro Hiramatsu, and Takashi Hirao

(Received September 14, 2009; accepted March 6, 2010; published online May 6, 2010)

Microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si) films were deposited by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition with a low-frequency and low-duty pulse substrate bias (PSB). The crystallinity of the films was significantly improved by the PSB. In the case of the low-frequency and low-duty PSB, the duty ratio affected the crystallinity more than the negative peak voltage. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy measurements revealed that the nucleation density at the µc-Si/glass interface was increased by the PSB. This technique will be useful in fabricating high-performance bottom-gate µc-Si thin-film transistors for large-area electronics.

URL: http://jjap.jsap.jp/link?JJAP/49/050202/
DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.49.050202

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