Advances in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of silicon films at low temperatures

The properties of silicon films prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at low temperatures (<400 °C) are controlled by the physical and chemical processes that occur in the gas phase, at the top-most film surface, within the first several monolayers of the surface, and even well into the film bulk. Recent advances in understanding these processes have led to several new developments in silicon PECVD. The advances include: (i) novel concepts for depositing high-rate, device-quality silicon films, and (ii) deposition phase diagrams for optimizing silicon films for high-stability, high-performance devices. In situ and real time probes of the gas phase, the film surface, and its sub-surface have played key roles in these advances.