Effect of Visible-Light Illumination on the Growing Surface of an a-Si:H Film in Plasma Decomposition of SiH4

Abstract
Light from a tungsten valve illuminated the growing surface of an a-Si:H film. The a-Si:H film was deposited by plasma decomposition of SiH4 in a specially designed plasma CVD system with a pair of comb-type glow discharge electrodes through which light can illuminate the surface of the heated substrate. Compared with nonillumination-grown films, the films grown under illumination exhibited smaller photo-induced changes in photoconductivity and had less bonded hydrogen content, a smaller ratio of dihydride/total bonded hydrogen, but sometimes higher space-charge density calculated from quasi-static capacitance-voltage characteristics of a Au-electrode Schottky diode on the film.