ESR Measurements of a-Si:H and a-Si0.5Ge0.5:H Films Under Solid-Phasecrystallization

Abstract

AbstractWe have investigated the solid-phase crystallization of a-Si1-xGex:H (x=0 and 0.5) films by using electron spin resonance and x-ray diffraction. The films were deposited on Coming 1737 glass in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system using SiH4 and GeH4 gases. The films were then annealed to be crystallized at 600°C. It was observed that, for the a-Si:H film, both the spin density and the g-value first increased with annealing time, and then rapidly decreased as the film was crystallized. For the a-Si0.5Ge0.5:H film, the Ge dangling bond spin density increased from 3 × 1018 cm-3 to 2 × 1019 cm3 for the first stage of annealing and then decreased to 3 × 1017 cm-3 after being crystallized; the Si dangling bond spin density just increased to about 2 × 1017 cm-3 and remained nearly constant for further annealing. It is thought that exodiffusion of hydrogen resulted in the increase of spin density in the beginning, and then some portions of amorphous components were converted into the crystalline phase by further annealing. And the keen correlation between the dependence of x-ray peak intensity and the dependence of Ge dangling bond spin density on the annealing time suggests that the Ge dangling bonds rather than Si dangling bonds play an important role in the crystallization of the Si0.5Ge0.5 film.