TY - JOUR
T1 - Methods of suppressing cluster growth in silane RF discharges
AU - Shiratani, M.
AU - Maeda, S.
AU - Matsuoka, Y.
AU - Tanaka, K.
AU - Koga, K.
AU - Watanabe, Y.
N1 - Funding Information:
Our research was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, by PVTEC and by Kyushu Electric Power Co. We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Messrs. T. Kinoshita and H. Matsuzaki who contributed greatly to the preparation of the experimental setup.
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - The effects of gas temperature gradient, pulse discharge modulation, hydrogen dilution, gas flow, and substrate materials on growth of clusters below about 10 nm in size in silane parallel-plate RF discharges are studied using a high-sensitivity photon-counting laser-light-scattering (PCLLS) method. Thermophoretic force due to the gas temperature gradient between the electrodes drives neutral clusters above a few nm in size toward the cool RF electrode. Pulse discharge modulation is much more effective in reducing the cluster density when it is combined with the gas temperature gradient, and clusters above a few nm in size cannot be detected by the PCLLS method even for the discharge over a few hours. Hydrogen dilution and gas flow are also effective in suppressing growth of clusters, when the H2/SiH4 concentration ratio is above about 5 and the flow velocity is above about 6 cm/s, respectively. Cluster growth rate with a glass or Si substrate is found to be considerably higher than that without the substrate.
AB - The effects of gas temperature gradient, pulse discharge modulation, hydrogen dilution, gas flow, and substrate materials on growth of clusters below about 10 nm in size in silane parallel-plate RF discharges are studied using a high-sensitivity photon-counting laser-light-scattering (PCLLS) method. Thermophoretic force due to the gas temperature gradient between the electrodes drives neutral clusters above a few nm in size toward the cool RF electrode. Pulse discharge modulation is much more effective in reducing the cluster density when it is combined with the gas temperature gradient, and clusters above a few nm in size cannot be detected by the PCLLS method even for the discharge over a few hours. Hydrogen dilution and gas flow are also effective in suppressing growth of clusters, when the H2/SiH4 concentration ratio is above about 5 and the flow velocity is above about 6 cm/s, respectively. Cluster growth rate with a glass or Si substrate is found to be considerably higher than that without the substrate.
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U2 - 10.1557/proc-609-a5.6
DO - 10.1557/proc-609-a5.6
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:0034429770
SN - 0272-9172
VL - 609
SP - A561-A566
JO - Materials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings
JF - Materials Research Society Symposium - Proceedings
T2 - Amorphous and Heterogeneus Silicon Thin Films-2000
Y2 - 24 April 2000 through 28 April 2000
ER -