Influence of the fabrication conditions of polymorphous silicon films on their structural, electrical and optical properties

The structural, optical, and photoelectric properties of polymorphous silicon films produced by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition from a mixture of monosilane and hydrogen at high pressure are studied. Variations in the pressure of the gas mixture used for film production barely change the Raman spectra of the films, but induce changes in the photoconductivity and in the absorption spectrum obtained by the constant-photocurrent technique. The experimentally observed change in the optical and photoelectric parameters of the films is attributed to some structural changes induced in the films by variations in the deposition parameters.