INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSITION FROM AMORPHOUS TO MICROCRYSTALLINE SILICON

An attempt was made to crystallize amorphous silicon thin films into a microcrystalline structure. These films are prepared by dc magnetron sputtering onto quartz glass substrate for optical transmission measur ements and for structural studies. Observations of the changes in opti cal transmission data due to thermal annealing of the as-deposited fil ms allow us to investigate the amorphous to crystalline transition. X- ray diffraction and electron microscopic observations show the structu ral transition into a homogeneous microcrystalline state. The kinetic process parameters of nucleation and crystal growth are determined.