Abstract
This report describes the in-situ characterization of growth and interfaces in amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) devices. The growth of a-Si:H by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is complex and involves many gas-phase and solid-surface chemical and physical processes, which are influenced by charged particle bombardment, ultraviolet light exposure, etc. The research consisted of two broad components. The first involved preparing a-Si:H by optimum'' PECVD and exposing the film to atomic hydrogen in-situ at the growth temperature. The processes of H-diffusion and incorporation in the exposed film were studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry, giving a picture of the processes by which the chemical potential in the film equilibrates with that in the gas phase. The properties of thin films were then prepared by alternating optimum'' PECVD growth and hydrogen exposure. Film properties were then studied again. The second component of the research is discussed only briefly in this report, as it is an outgrowth of previous work on single-wavelength ellipsometry. With the new spectroscopic capability developed at Penn State, it is now possible to quantify the nucleation and growth process of a-Si:H films.
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