Abstract
Nitrogen doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films, also recorded as silicon rich hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride thin films, were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The structural evolution and mechanical properties of the films with different nitrogen contents were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, and the density and stress measurement system, respectively. The results showed that with the increase in ammonia gas flow rate from 0.5 SCCM to 20 SCCM, the tensile stress and the density of the films decreased from 600 MPa to 280 MPa and from 2.31 g/cm3 to 2.08 g/cm3, respectively. The hydrogen bonding configurations, hydrogen content, and structural ordering evolution were investigated to reveal the relationship between the structural and mechanical properties of the films. A qualitative model was proposed to explain the role of nitrogen and hydrogen atoms during the film growth.
Highlights
Among the various types of a-Si:H based thin films, hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiNx:H) thin films with their optoelectronic properties variable over a wide range at various process parameters have received this attention.8,9 a-SiNx:H thin films are usually deposited by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method, and the properties of the materials are strongly affected by the deposition conditions, such as gas flow, power density, and substrate temperature
The defects in the thin films were related with the longitudinal acoustic (LA) mode, and an increase in the ILA/ITO ratio suggested that the defects of the a-SiNx:H thin films were increased with increasing NH3 flow rate
The influence of NH3 flow rate (SiH4 flow rate is fixed) on the structural evolution and mechanical properties of the silicon rich a-SiNx:H (0 < x < 1.33) thin films was studied by using FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and the density and stress measurement system
Summary
Since hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films were widely used in the application of solar cells, infrared sensors, thin film transistors, and lithium-ion batteries, there has been a great deal of attention to a-Si:H based thin films due to their potential applications in optoelectronic devices. Among the various types of a-Si:H based thin films, hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiNx:H) thin films with their optoelectronic properties variable over a wide range at various process parameters have received this attention. a-SiNx:H thin films are usually deposited by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method, and the properties of the materials are strongly affected by the deposition conditions, such as gas flow, power density, and substrate temperature. It is well known that the stoichiometric silicon nitride (Si3N4) thin films have been extensively used for a wide variety of microelectronic and optoelectronic applications, such as passivation layers to protect semiconductor devices, gate dielectric in metal–insulator– semiconductor field effect transistors, and antireflection coatings in solar cells. our understanding of silicon rich a-SiNx:H thin films with 0 < x < 1.33 is not well established compared with that of intrinsic a-Si:H thin films and stoichiometric Si3N4 thin films. Since hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films were widely used in the application of solar cells, infrared sensors, thin film transistors, and lithium-ion batteries, there has been a great deal of attention to a-Si:H based thin films due to their potential applications in optoelectronic devices.. Among the various types of a-Si:H based thin films, hydrogenated amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiNx:H) thin films with their optoelectronic properties variable over a wide range at various process parameters have received this attention. a-SiNx:H thin films are usually deposited by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method, and the properties of the materials are strongly affected by the deposition conditions, such as gas flow, power density, and substrate temperature.. A qualitative model based on the experimental results was proposed to explain the role of nitrogen and hydrogen atoms during the film growth
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