An alternative method to determine the steady state nucleation rate in thermally annealed HWCVD a-Si:H films

A determination of the steady state nucleation rate r n in thermally annealed a-Si:H has typically been performed using TEM, where the increase in grain density with isothermal sample anneal time can be directly observed for samples with small crystalline volume fractions. Using the classical model...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Thin solid films 2011-05, Vol.519 (14), p.4455-4458
Main Authors: Mahan, A. Harv, Parilla, Phil A., Moutinho, Helio, To, Bobby, Dabney, Matthew S., Ginley, David S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amorphous silicon
Annealing
Chemical vapor deposition
Chemical vapor deposition (including plasma-enhanced cvd, mocvd, etc.)
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Crystal structure
Crystallization
Density
Electron back scatter diffraction
Exact sciences and technology
Grain size
Materials science
Methods of deposition of films and coatings
film growth and epitaxy
Nucleation
Nucleation rate
Physics
Steady state
Structure and morphology
thickness
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
Theory and models of film growth
Thermal annealing
Thin film structure and morphology
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Summary:A determination of the steady state nucleation rate r n in thermally annealed a-Si:H has typically been performed using TEM, where the increase in grain density with isothermal sample anneal time can be directly observed for samples with small crystalline volume fractions. Using the classical model of crystallite nucleation and grain growth, this paper presents an alternative technique for determining r n using in situ XRD measurements of the crystallization time and EBSD measurements of the final grain size, the latter in fully annealed samples. HWCVD a-Si:H samples containing different as-grown film H contents C H have been examined by both techniques, and the agreement between these techniques is excellent. R n is seen to decrease with increasing as-grown film C H. Differences in the values of r n are suggested as being due to variations in the transition rate per atom at the amorphous/crystalline interface.
ISSN:0040-6090
1879-2731
DOI:10.1016/j.tsf.2011.01.332