Evaluation of the electrical asymmetry effect by spectroscopic measurements of capacitively coupled discharges and silicon thin film depositions

Thin Solid Films

Volumn 574, Issue , 2015, Pages 60-65

  Schüngel, Edmund ^a,b   Hofmann, Robert ^b   Mohr, Sebastian ^b   Schulze, Julian ^a   Röpcke, Jürgen ^c   Czarnetzki, Uwe ^b  

^a WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b RUHR UNIVERSITY BOCHUM   (Germany)

^c LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR PLASMA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY   (Germany)

Author keywords

Capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges; Dual frequency capacitively coupled plasmas; Electrical asymmetry effect; Hydrogen diluted silane discharges; Infrared laser absorption spectroscopy; Microcrystalline silicon; Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition; Thin films

Indexed keywords

ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY; AMORPHOUS FILMS; ELECTRIC DISCHARGES; HYDROGEN; INFRARED LASERS; MICROCRYSTALLINE SILICON; PLASMA ENHANCED CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION; SILICON; SUBSTRATES; THIN FILMS; VAPOR DEPOSITION;

ABSORPTION MEASUREMENTS; CAPACITIVELY COUPLED DISCHARGES; DUAL-FREQUENCY CAPACITIVELY COUPLED PLASMAS; ELECTRICAL ASYMMETRY EFFECT; HYDROGEN DILUTED SILANE; MICROCRYSTALLINE FILMS; RADIO FREQUENCY DISCHARGES; SPECTROSCOPIC MEASUREMENTS;

DEPOSITION;

EID: 84921283076     PISSN: 00406090     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2014.11.059     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. J.K. Rath, Low temperature polycrystalline silicon: a review on deposition, physical properties and solar cell applications, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 76 (2003) 431.
2. M.A. Lieberman, A.J. Lichtenberg, Principles of Plasma Discharges and Materials Processing, 2nd ed. Wiley, New York, 2005.
3. D. Hrunski, F. Mootz, A. Zeuner, A. Janssen, H. Rost, R. Beckmann, S. Binder, E. Schüngel, S. Mohr, D. Luggenhölscher, U. Czarnetzki, G. Grabosch, Deposition of microcrystalline intrinsic silicon by the Electrical Asymmetry Effect technique, Vacuum 87 (2013) 114.
4. D. Hrunski, A. Janssen, T. Fritz, T. Hegemann, C. Clark, U. Schreiber, G. Grabosch, The influence of the electrical asymmetry effect on the deposition uniformity of thin silicon film, Thin Solid Films 532 (2013) 56.
5. L. Guo, M. Kondo, M. Fukawa, K. Saito, A. Matsuda, High rate deposition of microcrystalline silicon using conventional plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 37 (1998) L1116.
6. M. Kondo, M. Fukawa, L. Guo, A. Matsuda, High rate growth of microcrystalline silicon at low temperatures, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 266-269 (2000) 84.
7. Z. Donkó, J. Schulze, U. Czarnetzki, A. Derzsi, P. Hartmann, I. Korolov, E. Schüngel, Fundamental investigations of capacitive radio frequency plasmas: simulations and experiments, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 54 (2012) 124003.
8. B.G. Heil, U. Czarnetzki, R.P. Brinkmann, T. Mussenbrock, On the possibility of making a geometrically symmetric RF-CCP discharge electrically asymmetric, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 165202.
9. J. Schulze, E. Schüngel, U. Czarnetzki, The electrical asymmetry effect in capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges measurements of dc self bias, ion energy and ion flux, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 42 (2009) 092005.
10. E. Schüngel, J. Schulze, Z. Donkó, U. Czarnetzki, Power absorption in electrically asymmetric dual frequency capacitive radio frequency discharges, Phys. Plasmas 18 (2011) 013503.
11. U. Czarnetzki, J. Schulze, E. Schüngel, Z. Donkó, The electrical asymmetry effect in capacitively coupled radio-frequency discharges, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 20 (2011) 024010.
12. E. Schüngel, S. Mohr, S. Iwashita, J. Schulze, U. Czarnetzki, The effect of dust on electron heating and dc self-bias in hydrogen diluted silane discharges, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 46 (2013) 175205.
13. E. Schüngel, Control of Plasma Properties via the Electrical Asymmetry Effect(PhD thesis) Ruhr-University Bochum, 2013. (http://www-brs.ub.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/netahtml/HSS/Diss/SchuengelEdmund/diss.pdf).
14. E. Schüngel, S. Mohr, J. Schulze, U. Czarnetzki, M.J. Kushner, Ion distribution functions at the electrodes of capacitively coupled high-pressure hydrogen discharges, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 23 (2014) 015001.
15. S.B. Wang, A.E. Wendt, Control of ion energy distribution at substrates during plasma processing, J. Appl. Phys. 88 (2000) 643.
16. X.V. Qin, Y.-H. Ting, A.E. Wendt, Tailored ion energy distributions at an rf-biased plasma electrode, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 19 (2010) 065014.
17. P. Diomede, M. Nikolaou, D.J. Economou, Voltage waveform to achieve a desired ion energy distribution on a substrate in contact with plasma, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 20 (2011) 045011.
18. T. Baloniak, R. Reuter, A. von Keudell, Fundamental aspects of substrate biasing: ion velocity distributions and nonlinear effects, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 43 (2010) 335201.
19. E.V. Johnson, T. Verbeke, J.-C. Vanel, J.-P. Booth, Nanocrystalline silicon film growth morphology control through RFwaveform tailoring, J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 43 (2010) 412001.
20. E.V. Johnson, P.A. Delattre, J.-P. Booth, Microcrystalline silicon solar cells deposited using a plasma process excited by tailored voltage waveforms, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100 (2012) 133504.
21. E.V. Johnson, S. Pouliquen, P.A. Delattre, J.-P. Booth, Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon thin fi lms deposited by RF-PECVD under low ion bombardment energy using voltage waveform tailoring, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 358 (2012) 1974.
22. B. Bruneau, J. Wang, J.-C. Dornstetter, E.V. Johnson, Growth mechanisms study of microcrystalline silicon deposited by SiH4/H2 plasma using tailored voltage waveforms, J. Appl. Phys. 115 (2014) 084901.
23. J. Schulze, E. Schüngel, Z. Donkó, U. Czarnetzki, The electrical asymmetry effect in multi-frequency capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 20 (2011) 015017.
24. A. Derzsi, I. Korolov, E. Schüngel, Z. Donkó, J. Schulze, Electron heating and control of ion properties in capacitive discharges driven by customized voltage waveforms, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 22 (2013) 065009.
25. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, HITRAN Database, 2012. (Cambridge MA, USA., www.cfa.harvard.edu/hitran/).
26. C. Wenger, J.P. Champion, Spherical top data system (STDS) software for the simulation of spherical top spectra, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf. 59 (1998) 471.
27. E.A.G. Hamers, A. Fontcuberta i Morral, C. Niikura, R. Brenot, P. Roca i Cabarrocas, Contribution of ions to the growth of amorphous, polymorphous, and microcrystalline silicon thin films, J. Appl. Phys. 88 (2000) 3674.
28. X. Zhang, Y. Zhao, F. Zhu, C. Wei, C. Wu, Y. Gao, J. Sun, G. Hou, X. Geng, S. Xiong, A combinatorial analysis of deposition parameters and substrates on performance of μc-Si:H thin films by VHF-PECVD, Appl. Surf. Sci. 245 (2005) 1.
29. A.A. Howling, B. Strahm, Ch. Hollenstein, Non-intrusive plasma diagnostics for the deposition of large area thin film silicon, Thin Solid Films 517 (2009) 6218.
30. S.H. Lee, P.K. Tiwari, J.K. Lee, Control of ion energy distribution in low-pressure and triple-frequency capacitive discharge, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 18 (2009) 025024.
31. P. Chabert, N. Braithwaite, Physics of Radio-Frequency Plasmas, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011.
32. U. Kroll, A. Shah, H. Keppner, J. Meier, P. Torres, D. Fischer, Potential of VHF-plasmas for low-cost production of a-Si: H solar cells, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 48 (1997) 343.
33. N. Spiliopoulos, D. Mataras, D.E. Rapakoulias, Kinetics of power deposition and silane dissociation in radio frequency discharges, J. Electrochem. Soc. 144 (1997) 634.
34. E. Amanatides, S. Stamou, D. Mataras, Gas phase and surface kinetics in plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of microcrystalline silicon: the combined effect of rf power and hydrogen dilution, J. Appl. Phys. 90 (2001) 5786.
35. H. Yasuda, Plasma Polymerization, Academic Press, Orlando, 1985.
36. M. Bauer, T. Schwarz-Selinger, H. Kang, A. von Keudell, Control of the plasma chemistry of a pulsed inductively coupled methane plasma, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 14 (2005) 543.
37. D. Hegemann, E. Körner, S. Guimond, Plasma polymerization of acrylic acid revisited, Plasma Process. Polym. 6 (2009) 246.
38. D. Hegemann, U. Schütz, E. Körner, Macroscopic approach to plasma polymerization using the concept of energy density, Plasma Process. Polym. 8 (2011) 689.
39. B.P. Lavrov, N. Lang, A.V. Pipa, J. Röpcke, On determination of the degree of dissociation of hydrogen in non-equilibrium plasmas by means of emission spectroscopy: II. Experimental verification, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 15 (2006) 147.
40. B. Kalache, A. Kosarev, R. Vanderhaghen, P. Roca i Cabarrocas, Ion bombardment effects on microcrystalline silicon growth mechanisms and on the film properties, J. Appl. Phys. 93 (2003) 1262.
41. S. Xiao, S. Xu, D. Wei, S. Huang, H. Zhou, Y. Xu, From amorphous to microcrystalline: phase transition in rapid synthesis of hydrogenated silicon thin film in low frequency inductively coupled plasmas, J. Appl. Phys. 108 (2010) 113520.
42. Q. Cheng, S. Xu, K. Ostrikov, Structural evolution of nanocrystalline silicon thin films synthesized in high-density, low-temperature reactive plasmas, Nanotechnology 20 (2009) 215606.
43. A. Matsuda, M. Takai, T. Nishimoto, M. Kondo, Control of plasma chemistry for preparing highly stabilized amorphous silicon at high growth rate, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 78 (2003) 326.
44. L. Martinu, J.E. Klemberg-Sapieha, O.M. Küttel, A. Raveh, M.R. Wertheimer, Critical ion energy and ion flux in the growth of films by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 12 (1994) 1360.
45. J. Ager III, D. Veirs, G. Rosenblatt, Spatially resolved Raman studies of diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition, Phys. Rev. B 43 (1991) 6491.
46. K. Christova, S. Alexandrova, A. Abramov, E. Valcheva, B. Ranguelov, C. Longeaud, S. Reynolds, P. Roca i Cabarrocas, Structure-related strain and stress in thin hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon films, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. (16 ISCMP: Progress in Solid State and Molecular Electronics, Ionics and Photonics), 253, 2010, p. 012056.
47. R. Nozawa, H. Takeda, M. Ito, M. Hori, T. Goto, Substrate bias effects on lowtemperature polycrystalline silicon formation using electron cyclotron resonance SiH4/H2 plasma, J. Appl. Phys. 81 (1997) 8035.
48. P. Roca i Cabarrocas, N. Chaâbane, A. Kharchenko, S. Tchakarov, Polymorphous silicon thin fi lms produced in dusty plasmas: application to solar cells, Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 46 (2004) B235.
49. O. Vetterl, F. Finger, R. Carius, P. Hapke, L. Houben, O. Kluth, A. Lambertz, A.Mück, B. Rech, H. Wagner, Intrinsicmicrocrystalline silicon: a new material for photovoltaics, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 62 (2000) 97.
50. H. Takatsuka, M. Noda, Y. Yonekura, Y. Takeuchi, Y. Yamauchi, Development of high ef ficiency large area silicon thin film modules using VHF-PECVD, Sol. Energy 77 (2004) 951.
51. A. Agarwal, M.J. Kushner, Seasoning of plasma etching reactors: ion energy distributions to walls and real-time and run-to-run control strategies, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 26 (2008) 498.