High growth-rate fabrication of micro-crystalline silicon by Helicon wave plasma CVD

A high growth rate (35 Å/s) and a high crystalline volume fraction (73%) were achieved in micro-crystalline silicon (μc-Si) films prepared by Helicon wave plasma CVD. Its high plasma density and low ion energy seem to promote the high growth rate. It was also found that (1 1 1) oriented μc-Si films can be obtained by reducing the self-bias voltage, probably due to less ion damage to the growing surfaces.