Ultrafast deposition of microcrystalline Si by thermal plasma chemical vapor deposition

This research is an attempt to apply thermal plasma chemical vapor depositi on for the ultrafast deposition of Si films for solar cells. The improvemen t of stability, controllability, and cleanliness of the process enabled the deposition of muc-Si films at the ultrafast rate of over 1000 nm/s. Moreov er, a minimum defect density of 7.2 x 10(16) cm(-3) was achieved. Monte-Car lo simulation and step coverage analysis suggested that the precursor is an approximately 1 nm cluster with a sticking probability of about 0.6. The s uccess of this research may change the established concepts of Si depositio n technology. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.