Hydrogen-Radical Annealing of Chemical Vapor-Deposited Amorphous Silicon Films

Abstract
This letter describes that photogenerated hydrogen-radical annealing (HRA) is very effective for improving the electric properties of chemical-vapor-deposited amorphous silicon films. The ratio of photoconductivity to dark conductivity (at a light intensity of 100 mW/cm2) changed from 100 to 6×104 upon annealing in a hydrogen-radical-rich ambient at 280°C. Thin-film transistor (TFT) characteristics were also improved by HRA.