Characteristics of the plasma parameters in the fabrication of microcrystalline silicon thin films using 915 MHz ECR plasma

Plasma parameters in the fabrication of μc-Si thin films using 915 MHz ECR plasma with SiH₄/H₂ mixtures were investigated experimentally. Plasma parameters such as electron temperature and ion density were measured by a heated Langmuir probe. The deposition rate and the volume fraction of μc-Si were measured by spectrophotometer and Raman spectroscopy, respectively. As a result, it was observed that the characteristics of plasma parameters in SiH₄/H₂ plasma were different with those in H₂ plasma although the concentration of SiH₄ was only about 0.1. In addition, it was found that relatively high deposition rate can be realized even under the condition of both low gas pressure and low gas flow rate.