Optical Properties and Structure of Microcrystalline Silicon
- 1 January 1992
- journal article
- Published by Springer Nature in MRS Proceedings
Abstract
The optical properties of thin film microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) have been studied by real time spectroscopie ellipsometry in the nucleation regime as isolated crystalline particles increase in size. A simple geometric model of nucleation allows us to remove the dominant effect of voids and extract the dielectric functions of the crystallites themselves. We find that the results can be understood in terms of a classical size effect whereby limitations on the electron mean free path by scattering at crystallite surfaces control the absorption onset from 2.0 to 3.0 eV. Finally, we describe how well-ordered, continuous 15 Å c-Si films can be prepared on metal substrates.Keywords
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