Evolution of Phase Transformation in Thin Layers of Amorphous Silicon Under Micro/Indented Loading

Abstract

The present study aims the presentation of the phase evolution in a thin layer of amorphous silicon intended by loads to localize and to quantify phenomena during the phase transformation. To reach these objectives, Vickers micro/indentation is used applying different values of force on the specimen. In this work three techniques, such as: scanning electron microscope, micro/Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction are used to study the transformation of phases in silicon subjected to different micro/indentation loads. The elaborated experimental work leads to explain obtained results, such as: (1) the correlation between micro/indentation loads and microstructure changes, (2) the behavior of imprint taken from a-Si thin layers of the applied load and (3) the formation of βSi3N4, which depends principally on indented loads. In general, the phase transformation evolution in the thin layer of amorphous silicon was highly established by experimental works.