Strong influence of boron doping on nanocrystalline silicon-carbide formation by using photo-CVD technique

We select the boron as a dopant of wide bandgap nanocrystalline silicon-carbide (nc-SiC:H) film in order to achieve a high conductivity. Boron atoms introduced at the growing surface play important roles on the structural, electrical and optical characteristics of this material. It is found that they hinder the nucleation of nanocrystallites by elevating the deposition speed. Therefore, a relevant light doping is essential to improve the electrical conductivity without deteriorating significantly the crystallinity and optical bandgap.