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Microwave PECVD of Micro-Crystalline Silicon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Wim Soppe ,
Camile Devilee ,
Sacha Schiermeier ,
Harry Donker  and
J.K. Rath
Wim Soppe
Affiliation:
ECN Solar Energy, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands.
Camile Devilee
Affiliation:
ECN Solar Energy, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands.
Sacha Schiermeier
Affiliation:
ECN Solar Energy, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands.
Harry Donker
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Inorganic Chemistry, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
J.K. Rath
Affiliation:
Debye Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Abstract

The deposition of micro-crystalline silicon by means of PECVD with a new linear microwave plasma source is investigated. This plasma source has successfully been introduced in the large scale production of multi-crystalline Si solar cells for the deposition of passivating silicon nitride layers. Advantages of this linear plasma source are the high deposition rates and the large area (up to 80 cm width, no length limitations) on which a homogeneous deposition can be achieved. Since this source has not been applied for deposition of micro-crystalline silicon before, we explored a large parameter space (substrate temperature, pressure, MW-power, gas flow rates), in order to find optimum growth conditions. It is observed that with this microwave source it is possible to grow micro-crystalline layers at significantly higher silane/hydrogen ratios and higher deposition rates than for conventional RF PECVD. In this paper, structural properties of the silicon layers, as investigated by Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, XRD and SEM measurements are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 715: Symposium A – Amorphous and Heterogeneous Silicon-Based Films-2002 , 2002 , A19.8
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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