CAUSES OF CRACKING OF VACUUM-DEPOSITED THICK AMORPHOUS-SILICON FILM

Cracking of thick amorphous silicon films deposited in ultra high vacu um on crystalline substrates was investigated. It was found that micro voids occurring in amorphous films during deposition caused stresses i n the films. The dependence of stresses in the amorphous film and in t he substrate on film thickness were obtained. A method of preparation of thick (greater than 2 mu m) non-cracked amorphous Si layers was pro posed. II was revealed that during destruction of amorphous silicon fi lm the partial structure relaxation of amorphous Si took place.