Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-2l2gl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T21:42:31.953Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Low-Temperature Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (Ltmocvd) Route to Amorphous Silicon Semiconductors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Aain E. Kaloyeros ,
James W. Corbett ,
Paul J. Tobcano  and
Richard B. Rizk
Aain E. Kaloyeros
Affiliation:
Physics Department, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY 12222
James W. Corbett
Affiliation:
Physics Department, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY 12222
Paul J. Tobcano
Affiliation:
Chemistry Department, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY 12222
Richard B. Rizk
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Physique des Solides de Bellevue, C.N.R.S., Meudon, Cedex, France
Get access

Abstract

Preliminary results are presented for a new approach proposed by the present investigators to solve the problem of light-induced degradation in amorphous silicon semiconductors. The approach uses low-temperature metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LTMOCVD) of tailored organometallic precursors. The precursors employed are non-toxic, non-hazardous and easy to handle. In the present paper, a-Si:H films were grown, using argon with various hydrogen concentrations as carrier gas, in a cold-wall CVD reactor at a reactor pressure of 1-10 torr and substrate temperature in the range 300–450°C. Characterization studies were performed using x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and extended electron-energy-loss fine structure spectroscopy (EXELFS). The results of these studies showed that the films were uniform, continuous, adherent and highly pure--contaminant levels were below the detection limits of XPS. In addition, EXELFS results showed that short-range order (SRO), consisting of the same tetrahedral coordinated units found in crystalline silicon, does exist in all the amorphous samples, regardless of hydrogen concentration. However, the degree of stuctural disorder in the silicon local tetrahedral units decreased as hydrogen was added.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 192: Symposium O – Amorphous Silicon Technology - 1990 , 1990 , 601
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1 Konagai, M., MRS Symp Proc. 70 (1986) 257.Google Scholar
2 Kolodzey, J., Aljishi, S., Schawarz, P., Slobodin, D., and Wagner, S., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A4 (1986) 2499.Google Scholar
3 Ellis, F. B. Jr. and Delahoy, A. E., Appl. Phys. Lett. 47 (1985) 135.Google Scholar
4 Delahoy, A. E., Solar Cells 21 (1987) 153.Google Scholar
5 Tokuda, K. L., Adler, D., and Reif, R., in Amorphous Silicon Semiconductors-Pure and Hydrogenated, eds. Adler, D., Hamakawa, Y., Madan, A., and Thompson, M., (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA 1987).Google Scholar
6 Delahoy, A.E., Doele, B., Ellis, F. B. Jr., Ramaprasad, K.R., Tonon, T., and Van Dine, J., in Materials Issues in Applications of Amorphous Silicon Technolgy, edited by Adler, D., Madan, A., and Thompson, M. J. (Materials Research Society, Elsevier, New York, 1985) p. 33.Google Scholar
7 Tsuo, Y.S., Smith, E.B., Deng, X.J., Xu, Y., and Deb, S.K., Solar Cells 24 (1988) 249.Google Scholar
8 Zhang, P. X., Wu, X. W., Wao, J.,Wong, S. K.,John, P. K., and Tong, B. K., Phys. Rev. B36 (1987) 9168.Google Scholar
9 Furukawa, S., Seki, M., and Maeyama, S., Phys. Rev. Lett. 57 (1986) 2029.Google Scholar
10 Collins, R. W., Amorphous and Liquid Semiconductors, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 114 (1989) 160.Google Scholar
11 Tarui, H. et al., Technical Digest of the International PVSEC-3 (1987) p.171.Google Scholar
12 Ghandhi, S. K. and . Bhat, B., MRS Bulletin 13 (1988) 37.Google Scholar
13 Ludowise, M. J., J.Appl. Phys. A41 (1986) 315.Google Scholar
14 Corbett, J. W., Kaloyeros, A. E., and Toscano, P.J., Novel process for Deposition of Solar Cell Amorphous Silicon (1990, patent pending).Google Scholar
15 Kaloyeros, A. E., Toscano, P. J. and Rizk, R. B., “Low-Temperature Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (LTMOCVD) of Wide-Band Gap Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications,” accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the MRS 1989 Fall Meeting Symposium on Wide Band Gap Semiconductors (Boston, MA, 1989).Google Scholar
16 Kaloyeros, A.E., Toscano, P.J., Rizk, R,B and Corbett, J. W., “Amorphous Silicon with Improved efficiencies by Low-Temperature MOCVD (LTMOCVD),” submitted to the Proceedings of the MRS 1990 Fall Meeting Symposium on Long-Wavelength Semiconductor Devices. Materials and Processes (Boston, MA, 1990).Google Scholar
17 Kaloyeros, A. E., Toscano, P.J. Corbett, J.W., and Rizk, R.B., to be submitted to Solar Cells (1990).Google Scholar
18 Teo, B.K., in EXAFS: Basic Principles and Data Analysis (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1986) p.21.Google Scholar
19 Stern, E.A. and Heald, S.M., in Handbook on Synchrotron Radiation, ed. Koch, E.E. (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1983)) Vol. I, p. 955.Google Scholar
20 Kaloyeros, A.E., Rizk, R.B., Williams, W.S., and Woodhouse, J.B., Phys. Rev. B38 (1988)13099.Google Scholar