Abstract:
The ability to crystallize thin amorphous Si layers into large grain Si can lead to significant improvements in Si solar cells and thin-film transistors. Here we report on the effect of the hydrogen content in as-grown films on the crystallization kinetics, surface morphology, and grain growth for hot wire chemical-vapor-deposited a-Si:H films crystallized by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). At RTA temperatures >750°C for high-hydrogen-content films, we observe the explosive evolution of hydrogen, with a resultant destruction of the film. Little or no damage is observed for films containing low hydrogen content. At a lower RTA temperature (600°C), the films remain intact with similar morphologies. At this same lower RTA temperature, both the incubation time and crystallization time decrease, and the grain size as measured by x-ray diffraction increases with decreasing hydrogen film content. Measurements of the crystallization time versus H evolution time indicate that the vast majority of the hydrogen must evolve from both films before crystallization commences. To examine the relationship between hydrogen evolution and crystallization, a two-step annealing process was utilized. For the high hydrogen content films, the final grain size increases if a large portion of the hydrogen is driven out at temperatures well below the crystallization temperature