LOW-TEMPERATURE GROWTH OF EPITAXIAL AND AMORPHOUS-SILICON IN A HYDROGEN-DILUTED SILANE PLASMA

The growth, structure and hydrogen incorporation in plasma-deposited low temperature epitaxial and amorphous silicon have been studied. An optimal balance between deposition and 'etching' produces epitaxy on hydrogen-passivated silicon surfaces for T = 150-350-degrees-C, with the lower T materials contains more defects in the form of clustered H platelets. Although grown at similar temperatures, the disordered network incorporates approximately 30-100 times more hydrogen than the ordered one. The incorporated H is 17 times more likely to originate from SiH4-related species than from H-2 for both phases. In the high dilution regime, many incorporated H originate from H-2, consistent with the concept of 'etching'.