An apparatus for isothermal annealing and crystallisation of amorphous semiconducting films

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Abstract
An apparatus for isothermal annealing and study of crystallisation temperatures and activation energies in amorphous semiconductors is described. The temperature treatment is performed in a high-vacuum chamber with an ambient argon gas maintained during the annealing time. When studying the crystallisation process, the semiconductor conductance is measured by means of the constant voltage method. An x-t recorder then monitors the variation in the semiconductor conductance. An electric line controller facilitates automatic turn off of the process. If desired, fast cooling of the sample holder is possible by means of tap water. Samples of amorphous ZnTe have been crystallised. The activation energy obtained was 2.8 eV and the room-temperature time for onset of crystallisation was found to be approximately 5*1018 years.