Using MDECR-PECVD to study the impact of ion bombardment energy on microstructural properties of μc-Si:H thin film grown from an SiF₄/H₂ chemistry

The matrix-distributed electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MDECR-PECVD) technique has been shown to achieve high deposition rates for hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) thin film. Due to the fact that plasma is sustained by a microwave discharge, by biasing the substrate holder with additional power supply, one can achieve independent control over the plasma density and the maximum ion bombardment energy (IBE). In this work, we present studies of the impact of IBE on the microstructural properties of the μc-Si:H film deposited by MDECR-PECVD. Insufficient ion bombardment is found to be responsible for the substantial presence of nano-porous regions within the material, resulting in significant post-deposition oxidation. Good agreement between transmission electron microscopy (TEM) Fresnel contrast analysis and the results of infrared absorption and hydrogen effusion measurements for the deposited films suggest that moderate IBE is of vital importance to achieve high quality μc-Si:H. In doing so, denser films with significantly decreased nano-porous regions and better stability are obtained, which is of great interest to optimize the process parameters for solar cell applications.