ENHANCED DEPOSITION RATE OF SPUTTERED AMORPHOUS-SILICON WITH A HELIUMAND ARGON GAS-MIXTURE

Sputtered amorphous silicon thin films have been grown in an atmospher e of helium-argon gas and the effect of helium dilution investigated. The major observed feature is that helium dilution enhances the deposi tion rate. The highest deposition rate, six times larger than that obt ained under conventional conditions, is reached with equal proportions of helium and argon in the deposition chamber. The influence of heliu m dilution is explained on the basis of an increase in the argon ioniz ation rate with helium dilution.