Electron and Ion Energy Controls in a Radio Frequency Discharge Plasma with Silane

Abstract

Electron and ion energy distribution functions are controlled in a radio-frequency (rf) discharge plasma with silane for production of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films. We apply the grid-bias method to an rf silane plasma in order to obtain a low electron-temperature (T e≃0.2 eV) and low ion-temperature (T i≃0.1 eV) plasma. The ion beam energy is controlled by biasing the substrate. We find that the room temperature hole drift mobility is increased by two orders of magnitude compared to the conventional value at an ion beam energy between 23 eV and 24 eV.