Ar. Middya et al., IMPROVEMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURE OF AMORPHOUS SILICON-GERMANIUM ALLOYS BY HYDROGEN DILUTION, Journal of applied physics, 78(8), 1995, pp. 4966-4974
The microstructures of two sets of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-germ
anium (a-Si1-xGex:H) alloys prepared by the plasma-enhanced, chemical-
vapor-deposition technique with and without hydrogen dilution of the s
ource gases (silane and germane) have been analyzed by small-angle x-r
ay scattering (SAXS), infrared vibrational spectroscopy, and flotation
density measurements. Optoelectronic properties of codeposited films
have also been characterized. Hydrogen dilution suppresses dihydride/p
olyhydride formation, reduces bonded H content, and reduces the SAXS-d
etected microstructure for x>0. Studies of anisotropy in the SAXS inte
nsity indicate an increased amount of oriented microstructure as Ge is
added, consistent with a trend toward columnarlike growth in both und
iluted and hydrogen-diluted films, but the diluted films have a signif
icantly reduced degree of such oriented microstructure. The improvemen
t in the microstructure of a-Si1-xGex:H films by H-2 dilution correlat
es with concomitant improvement of optoelectronic properties. The modi
fication of microstructure due to H-2 dilution of the source gases is
discussed in terms of growth mechanisms of alloy films. (C) 1995 Ameri
can Institute of Physics.