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Preparation and Optical Properties of Ultrathin Silicon Films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

R. W. Collins
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Materials Research LaboratoryThe Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Hien V. Nguyen
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Materials Research LaboratoryThe Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Ilsin An
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Materials Research LaboratoryThe Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Yiwei Lu
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Materials Research LaboratoryThe Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
M. Wakagi
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Materials Research LaboratoryThe Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
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Abstract

Ultrathin crystalline silicon (c-Si) and amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films have been prepared using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and atomic hydrogen etching methods. The complex dielectric functions (2 < hv < 4.5 eV) of films consisting of isolated clusters have been measured in situ and in real time using spectroscopic ellipsometry. For 12 Å c-Si cluster films, a sharp absorption onset is observed near 3 eV that blue-shifts with decreasing thickness, in consistency with the quantum confinement of electrons. A much broader absorption onset, observed for ∼13 Å a-Si:H cluster films near 2 eV, is attributed to an electron mean free path that is less than the cluster size, which limits the appearance of confinement effects.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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