From amorphous to microcrystalline silicon deposition in SiF4-H2-He plasmas in situ control by optical emission spectroscopy

Pure hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (mc-SiH) films were deposited by SiF4-H2-He plasmas at temperatures as low as 120°C and frequencies of 13.56 and 75 MHz. The plasma diagnostics by optical emission spectroscopy has allowed us to control the growth of mc-SiH films. The silicon structure can be changed from pure amorphous to pure microcrystalline under the controlled variation of the densities of F atoms, H atoms and SiFn radicals in the plasma phase.