Properties of microcrystalline silicon films deposited at high growth rate at different plasma excitation frequencies

High growth rates of intrinsic microcrystalline layers have been achieved by controlling the power, pressure and hydrogen dilution by PECVD technique at different plasma excitation frequencies (RF & VHF). Comparable high deposition rates have been achieved both at 13.56 MHz and 105 MHz. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies have been done to investigate the crystallinity and grain size of the silicon thin films. The growth rate, crystallinity and grain sizes are correlated with deposition parameters. The defect density is low as observed in electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Light induced degradations of the films have been studied.