Properties of amorphous silicon thin films synthesized by reactive particle beam assisted chemical vapor deposition

Abstract Amorphous silicon thin films were formed by chemical vapor deposition of reactive particle beam assisted inductively coupled plasma type with various reflector bias voltages. During the deposition, the substrate was heated at 150 °C. The effects of reflector bias voltage on the physical and chemical properties of the films were systematically studied. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy results showed that the deposited films were amorphous and the films under higher reflector voltage had higher internal energy to be easily crystallized. The chemical state of amorphous silicon films was revealed as metallic bonding of Si atoms by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. An increase in reflector voltage induced an increase of surface morphology of films and optical bandgap and a decrease of photoconductivity.