Thermal Stability of Pure a-Si Films Prepared by rf-Bias Sputtering

Abstract
Pure amorphous-silicon (a-Si) films, in which dangling bond terminators such as hydrogen or fluorine are not contained, were prepared using rf-bias sputtering with a magnetron target. The temperature dependence of dark conductivity (σd), photoconductivity (Δσp), ESR spin density (N s) and their variation with annealing were studied. It was found that σd and Δσp were unchanged even after annealing at 500°C, and that the variation of N s with annealing was similar to that of purely fluorinated a-Si (a-Si:F), and much smaller than that of hydrogenated a-Si (a-Si:H).