Microstructural evolution of ultrathin amorphous silicon films by real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry
- 29 October 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 65 (18) , 2274-2277
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.65.2274
Abstract
The nucleation of thin-film amorphous silicon (a-Si), sputter deposited on oxidized c-Si, is investigated by real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry from 1.5 to 4.5 eV with a resolution of 3 s and a repetition period of 15 s. Analysis of real-time spectra provides unprecedented sensitivity and quantitative information on the microstructural evolution. Under preparation conditions resulting in a-Si of the highest bulk Si-Si bond-packing density, an abrupt transition representing the onset of bulk film growth can be identified unambiguously when nuclei reach a thickness of 13±1 Å.Keywords
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