Effect of the RF Power of PECVD on the Crystalline Fractions of Microcrystalline Silicon (μc-Si:H) Films and Their Structural, Optical, and Electronic Properties.

In this work, we report on the deposition of microcrystalline silicon (µc-Si:H) films produced from silane (SiH₄), hydrogen (H₂), and argon (Ar) mixtures using the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique at 200 °C. Particularly, we studied the effect of RF power on the crystalline fraction (X_C) of the deposited films, and we have correlated the X_C with their optical, electrical, and structural characteristics. Different types of characterization were performed in the µc-Si:H film series. We used several techniques, such as Raman scattering spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), among others. Our results show that RF power had a strong effect on the X_C of the films, and there is an optimal value for producing films with the largest X_C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]