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Numerical Simulation of Microcrystalline Silicon Growth on Structured Substrate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Martin Python ,
Evelyne Vallat-Sauvain ,
Julien Bailat ,
Christophe Ballif  and
Arvind Shah
Martin Python
Affiliation:
martin.python@unine.ch, University of neuchatel, microtechnique, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, Neuchatel, 2000, Switzerland, +41327183219
Evelyne Vallat-Sauvain
Affiliation:
Evelyne.Vallat@unine.ch, University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Microtechnology, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
Julien Bailat
Affiliation:
julien.bailat@unine.ch, University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Microtechnology, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
Christophe Ballif
Affiliation:
christophe.ballif@unine.ch, University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Microtechnology, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
Arvind Shah
Affiliation:
Arvind.Shah@unine.ch, University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Microtechnology, Rue A.-L. Breguet 2, Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland
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Abstract

The growth of thin-film silicon close to the amorphous/microcrystalline transition is qualitatively described by a 3D - discrete dynamical growth model on a cubic lattice. The result of this simulation is a representation of the microstructure of the layer as a function of time, i.e. computer-generated animations of growing microcrystalline silicon layers. It permits to follow the evolution of the nucleation and of the growth of the crystalline phase, the surface roughness, the average crystalline volume fraction and the void volume fraction. In these computer simulations, the effects of the substrate surface morphology and of the distribution of particles incidence angle have been studied.

Comparison between simulated normal and isotropic incidence on structured substrates indicates that, under microcrystalline growth conditions, shadowing effects lead to the occurrence of cracks in the simulated microstructure. These effects are also evidenced experimentally in the case of μc-Si:H silicon layers deposited by very high frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (VHF-PECVD) on periodic and random nanostructured substrates.

Keywords

simulationSimicrostructure
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 910: Symposium A – Amorphous and Polycrystalline Thin-Film Silicon Science and Technology – 2006 , 2006 , 0910-A13-02
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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