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Structural Evolution in Amorphous Silicon and Germanium Thin Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2003

L.J. Chen ,
S.L. Cheng ,
C.H. Yu ,
P.Y. Su ,
H.H. Lin  and
K.S. Chi
L.J. Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
S.L. Cheng
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
C.H. Yu
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
P.Y. Su
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
H.H. Lin
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
K.S. Chi
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China
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Abstract

The structural evolution in amorphous silicon and germanium thin films has been investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) in conjunction with autocorrelation function (ACF) analysis. The results established that the structure of as-deposited semiconductor films is of a high density of nanocrystallites embedded in the amorphous matrix. In addition, from ACF analysis, the structure of a-Ge is more ordered than that of a-Si. The density of embedded nanocrystallites in amorphous films was found to diminish with annealing temperature first, then to increase. The conclusions also corroborate well with the results of diminished medium-range order in annealed amorphous films determined previously by a variable coherence microscopy method.

Keywords

amorphousautocorrelation functionhigh-resolution TEMnanocrystalliteelectron diffractionstructuressemiconductor thin filmsmedium-range order
Type
A SYMPOSIUM IN HONOR OF PROFESSOR GARETH THOMAS
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , August 2002 , pp. 268 - 273
Copyright
2002 Microscopy Society of America

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