Kinetics of Crystallization of Amorphous and Mixed-Phase Silicon Films Deposited by Pyrolysis of Disilane Gas at Very Low Pressure

Abstract
The kinetics of crystallization of high-purity amorphous and mixed-phase silicon films obtained by pyrolysis of disilane gas in the millitorr pressure range were studied. A combination of in situ electrical conductance measurements and transmission electron microscopy analysis was used to determine the crystallization parameters. For mixed-phase films we report an activation energy for the nucleation rate of the order of 2.9 eV, compared to approximately 3.7 eV for the completely amorphous ones; the activation energy for the growth rate is roughly equal to 2.7 eV for the two types of films analyzed.