Raman Scattering Studies on Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Prepared under High Deposition Rate Conditions

We have made Raman scattering studies on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) prepared at high deposition rates ranging from 10–105 A/s. The full width of half maximum of the TO-like band, ΔωTO, increases with the increase in the deposition rate, r g, which implies an increase in the structural disorder of a-Si:H with the increase in r g. However, the degree of such increase is small when compared with those observed in a-Si:H alloy materials such as amorphous silicon carbide and amorphous silicon nitride. We have found that the value of ΔωTO is correlated with the B value (the square of the slope of √αh ν versus h ν plot).