Investigation of growth mechanism of nanocrystalline silicon thin films prepared by hot-filament chemical vapor deposition

The nc-Si : H thin films were prepared by hotfilament vapor deposition. The effect of gas pressure, high H₂ dilution and substrate-to-filament distance on deposition rate, the formation and structure of nc-Si: H films was systematically studied. The structure of nc-Si: H was determined using Raman scattering and X-ray diffraction. The temperature distribution was calculated; the travel of radicals evaporated from the filament and the gas-phase reaction were discussed in detail. The results were in agreement with the measurement.