High rate deposition of silicon films for solar cells by plasma-enhanced CVD from trichlorosilane

Author

Rostalsky, Martin ; Kunze, Thomas ; Linke, Nicole ; Muller, Jorg

Author_Institution

Dept. of Semicond. Technol., Tech. Univ. Hamburg-Harburg, Germany

fYear

1997

fDate

29 Sep-3 Oct 1997

Firstpage

743

Lastpage

746

Abstract

This paper describes a high rate deposition process of silicon films by means of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from trichlorosilane (SiHCl₃) at low temperatures on graphite substrates. The PECVD-process was investigated for different parameters such as gas composition of SiHCl₃, H₂ and Ar, pressure, substrate temperature and RF-power. The deposited films are investigated by energy disperse X-ray analysis to determine the fraction of incorporated chlorine, scanning electron microscopy to characterize the morphology of the film surface, X-ray diffraction to ascertain crystallinity and others. Special interest is paid to the films behavior in a rapid thermal zone melting process to enlarge the grain size for photovoltaic applications

Keywords

X-ray analysis; X-ray diffraction; elemental semiconductors; grain size; plasma CVD; plasma CVD coatings; scanning electron microscopy; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; zone melting; Si; Si thin-film solar cells; X-ray diffraction; crystallinity; deposition rate; energy disperse X-ray analysis; film surface morphology; gas composition; grain size enlargement; graphite substrates; photovoltaic applications; plasma-enhanced CVD; rapid thermal zone melting process; scanning electron microscopy; trichlorosilane; Argon; Chemical vapor deposition; Electrons; Grain size; Photovoltaic cells; Plasma chemistry; Plasma temperature; Semiconductor films; Silicon; Substrates;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1997., Conference Record of the Twenty-Sixth IEEE

Conference_Location

Anaheim, CA

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3767-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1997.654196

Filename

654196