Surface Roughening During Plasma-Enhanced Chemical-Vapor Deposition of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon on Crystal Silicon Substrates

Published

August 1, 1997

Author(s)

D M. Tanenbaum, A L. Laracuente, Alan Gallagher

Abstract

The morphology of a series of thin films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is studied using scanning tunneling microscopy. The substrates were atomically flat, oxide-free, single-crystal silicon. Films were grown in a PECVD chamber directly and transferred under vacuum with minimal air exposure. The homogenous roughness of the films increases with film thickness. The quantification of this roughening is achieved by calculation of both rms roughness and lateral correlation lengths of the a-Si:H film surface from the height difference correlation functions of the measured topographs. Homogeneous roughening occurs over the films surface due to the collective behavior of the flux of depositing radical species and their interactions with the growth surface.

Citation

Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)

Volume

56

Issue

No. 7

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

hydrogenated amorphous silicon, surface roughening

Citation

Tanenbaum, D. , Laracuente, A. and Gallagher, A. (1997), Surface Roughening During Plasma-Enhanced Chemical-Vapor Deposition of Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon on Crystal Silicon Substrates, Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics) (Accessed July 27, 2024)