Optical properties of annealed Si:H thin film prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) deposition technique
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2010
Abstract
Optical studies were performed on annealed hydrogenated silicon (Si:H) thin films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using the layer-by-layer (LBL) deposition technique. The films were annealed for 1 h at temperatures of 400, 600, 800 and 1000 degrees C in ambient nitrogen. The effects of annealing temperatures on the optical properties, such as the optical-energy gap, Urbach energy, refractive index, dispersion energy and single oscillator strength, were studied. These parameters were determined from optical transmission and reflection spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical reflectance measurements were performed on the samples, showing the onset of transformation from an amorphous to a crystalline phase in the film structure when annealed at a temperature of 800 degrees C. The films were of mixed phase, with nanocrystalline grains embedded in the amorphous matrix. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Hydrogenated silicon, Annealing, Transmittance and reflectance, Crystallinity
Divisions
PHYSICS
Publication Title
Physica B: Condensed Matter
Volume
405
Issue
23
Publisher
Elsevier