Residual crystalline silicon phase in silicon-rich-oxide films subjected to high temperature annealing

Structural properties of silicon rich oxide films (SRO) have been investigated by means of micro-Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The layers were deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using different SiH4 /O2 gas mixtures. The Raman spectra of the as-deposited SRO films are dominated by a broad band in the region 400-500 cm-1 typical of a highly disordered silicon network. After annealing at temperatures above 1000 °C in N2 , the formation of silicon nanocrystals is observed both in the Raman spectra and in the TEM images. However, most of the precipitated silicon does not crystallize and assumes an amorphous microstructure.